Alia Farid and Aseel AlYaqoub win Art Jameel's inaugural sculpture commission for Dubai botanical light garden

Kuwait-based artists Alia Farid and Aseel AlYaqoub have secured the first Art Jameel Commissions: Sculpture award for their proposal 'Contrary Life: A Botanical Light Garden Devoted to Trees.' The Dubai-based organization Art Jameel will provide a $70,000 production budget and technical support from architects and engineers for the site-specific installation, which combines artificial plants to create a community botanical garden. The commissioned work will debut at the opening of the Jameel Arts Centre in Jadaf on Dubai Creek later in 2018. A distinguished jury including Shumon Basar, Reem Fadda, James Lingwood of Artangel, Elvira Dyangani Ose of Creative Time and Goldsmiths, University of London, and Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi of Sharjah Art Foundation selected the winners. Future editions of the Art Jameel Commissions program will shift focus to research/lectures in 2019 and drawing/painting in 2020, welcoming artists from or based in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey, as well as those whose work engages with these regions. The announcement was made on February 27, 2018.