Abu Dhabi is fast becoming home to one of the most vibrant creative communities in the entire Middle East. With world-class galleries and museums, innovative art spaces and a host of young, talented creators in a whole range of disciplines, you won’t have to go far for a first-class culture fix.
Helping us navigate the best of it all is Makers District by IMKAN, a new creative development on Reem Island designed to foster another generation of cultured and collaborative minds. Centred on the seven-tower Pixel residences, Makers District has been conceived as a place for entrepreneurs, artists, artisans and creatives and, in addition to more than 4,000 residential units, the destination offers flexible co-working office space, a boutique hotel, retail and F&B units and a vast array of inspiring public and community spaces. It’s place where education and inspiration are cultivated and where creativity thrives.
Here are the seven top places suggested:
1. Head to Warehouse 421
Any list of the capital’s cultural highlights perhaps ought to begin at Warehouse 421, the city’s most consistently interesting and intriguing art space. In November, it will play host to Talin Hazbar’s latest exhibition, The Structure of Impermanence, which uses a traditional Syrian house to examine the relationship between nature, architecture and cultural heritage. For an overview of the next generation of emerging talent, the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship’s 2018/19 Cohort 6 show, which features works from 15 UAE-based artists, will be running until November 24.
For more information, visit: warehouse421.ae/en/
2. Catch new talent at Homegrown UAE
A showcase of local talent is being hosted at the Annex on November 8. Homegrown UAE Abu Dhabi Edition is a multi-platform evening of entertainment that fuses art, fashion, music and even stand-up comedy all developed in the region – and it’s the first of what the organisers hope is a regular event on the capital’s calendar. The three-storey venue is hosting music acts Ibby VK, KK Music, Nemecy, Doc Milton and Ellias Sabella on the rooftop, stand-up comedy from Jon Boulton, Erik Thornquist, Maher Barwany, Colin Armstrong, Abdulla Al Qassab and Kholi Wood on the lounge floor, and DJs Saif and Sound, Jones the Ikom Boy, Eyjey and Nicki Nicol in the club. The event is from 8pm until 4am and is free to enter.
For more information, visit: annexabudhabi.com
3. Catch the best of Arab film at CinemaNa
CinemaNa is a film programme that trains its lens on Arab cinema and it returns to Abu Dhabi this November with two more free screenings. The first, on November 4 at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, is Bassam Jarwabi’s Mafak (Screwdriver), which follows a Palestinian as he emerges from 15 years inside an Israeli prison – and still struggling to cope with the death of his best friend in the incident in which he was arrested. On Monday, November 25, Talal Derki’s documentary Of Fathers and Sons will be shown at The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi.
For more information, visit: nyuad-artscenter.org
4. Make a Korea move
Abu Dhabi’s Korea Festival 2019 serves up a diverse array of cultural and culinary treats from the country between now and November 9. Hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the UAE’s Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, the events take place across the capital, with many centred on the The Cultural Foundation. Some of the highlights include a Year of Tolerance art exhibition, which explores the universality of human experience, and a concert from K-pop stars B.I.G. on Thursday, November 7.
Foodies can head to the Korean Cultural Center on November 11, where star of Netflix show Chef’s Table Jeong Kwan will be holding a cooking class.
For more information, visit: koreafestivaluae.com
5. Experience forward living at Pixel
Part of a new generation of mixed-use, urban projects, Pixel in the Makers District on Reem Island is a seven-tower, beachside residential complex built around the ideal of collaboration and community – where co-working spaces, homegrown restaurant and café concepts and dynamic communal spaces such as plazas and water features are woven into its fabric. Developed by IMKAN as an integrated and engaging residential community to cultivate creativity and embody the millennial mindset, the first apartments are due for handover in June 2021. So you still have time to make your move.
For more information, visit: www.thepixel.ae
6. Dive into Cubism at The Louvre
With a programme now stretching well beyond its art gallery brand, The Louvre is unquestionably the capital’s cultural powerhouse, with risk-taking and innovation running through every season. This November, Cubism is in the spotlight, but alongside the careful curation of works by Picasso, Mogdialiani and Chagall, there are two events that underline its bold approach. On November 21, there is an electro-cubist night, where cubist-inspired visuals will projected across the venue’s dome while legendary Brazilian sound engineer Aimon Tobin provides the soundtrack. If that’s not captivating enough, on November 29-30 the museum unveils Parade, an interactive puppet show based on machines devised by Picasso and Cocteau in 1917.
For more information, visit: www.louvreabudhabi.ae
7. Marvel at Kaki King at NYUAD
You could, without fear of contradiction, describe Kaki King as a guitarist. what it would leave out, though, is roughly 90 percent of her artistry as a musician and performer. Using projection mapping on her luminous guitar, she creates a stunning audio-visual tableau that expresses a prodigious range of emotions and ideas. Her latest work is Data Not Found, which looks at human interaction with the likes of artificial intelligence.
For more information, visit: nyuad-artscenter.org
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