Jameel Arts Centre Opens in Dubai with Crude Exhibition

The Jameel Arts Centre has opened in Dubai's waterfront district, a three-story, 10,000-square-meter structure designed by London-based Serie Architects. The building features large glass windows, gardens by Swiss-Dutch landscape designer Anouk Vogel, and a sculpture park by Emirati firm ibda design with five site-specific works. The centre includes a café-giftshop with a separate entrance and a free specialized library, unique in the city. The inaugural exhibition, Crude, curated by Murtaza Vali, features 17 artists exploring oil as a social, cultural, and economic agent. Notable works include Hajra Waheed's found photographs of burning wells, Hassan Sharif's mountain of plastic flip-flops, Nasrin Tabatabai & Babak Afrassiabi's oil-pigment paintings, and Raja'a Khalid's found photographs from old magazines. Four Artist's Rooms are dedicated to Chiharu Shiota, Maha Malluh, Lala Rukh, and Mounira Al Solh, functioning as small solo shows. A commissioned installation by Lara Favaretto is in the hall, and the first Art Jameel Commissions winner, Alia Farid & Aseel AlYaqoub, installed a work on the terrace. About 40% of the inaugural works come from the family collection, as noted by director Antonia Carver.