An impressive range of thinkers, artists and cultural figures are coming to Dubai to share their wit and insights into the world of art.
More than 40 respected writers, curators, historians, architects, filmmakers and generally renowned arty types will participate in a five day meeting of minds, which takes place as part of this year’s Art Dubai event.
The line-up of guest speakers taking part in the eight annual Global Art Forum has been unveiled for the first time, with the 2014 event taking the thought-provoking title ‘Meanwhile…History’.
Running parallel to Art Dubai, the series of talks and cultural debates will take place at Mina Al Salam, Madinat Jumeirah, between March 19-21. Prior to this there will also be two days of talks at Doha’s Katara Arts Centre on March 15 and 16.
Last year’s event stole headlines when it was announced former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe was taking part.
All talks and discussions are free to enter, and are simultaneously translated into English and/or Arabic.
The complete list of speakers is:
• Rahel Aima, Editor, The State, Dubai
• John Akomfrah, Artist, filmmaker and writer, London
• Shiva Balaghi, Professor, Departments of History and History of Art, Brown University, Providence
• Sulayman Al Bassam, Writer and director, Kuwait/London
• Omar Berrada, Writer, translator, co-director of Dar al-Ma’mûn and co-director of Global Art Forum 8, Marrakech
• Jocelyne Dakhlia, Professor, L’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
• Catherine David, Art historian and independent curator, Paris
• Okwui Enwezor, Director, Haus der Kunst and director of the Visual Arts Sector of the 56th Biennale di Venezia, 2015
• Marina Fokidis, Independent curator-writer and founding director of the Kunsthalle Athena & South magazine
• Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Author and academic, London
• Frauke Heard-Bey, Historian, Abu Dhabi
• Adina Hempel, Assistant professor, College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University and head of research for the National Pavilion of the UAE Venice Architecture Biennale 2014, Dubai
• Butheina Kazim, Fulbright scholar of Media Culture and Communication, New York University, New York/Abu Dhabi
• Kristine Khouri, Researcher and writer, Beirut
• Masha Kirasirova, Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow of History, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi
• Ahmad Makia, Editor, The State, Dubai
• Farah Al-Nakib, Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Centre for Gulf Studies, American University of Kuwait, Kuwait
• Hans Ulrich Obrist, Curator, co-director of exhibitions and programmes and director of international projects, Serpentine Gallery
• Todd Reisz, Visiting assistant professor, Yale University School of Architecture and editor of Al Manakh and Portal 9, Amsterdam
• Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Artist and writer, Raqs Media Collective, New Delhi
• Justin Stearns, Assistant professor of Arab Crossroads Studies, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi
• Brett Steele, Director, Architectural Association School of Architecture, London
• Adam Szymczyk, Director, Kunsthalle Basel and artistic director of documenta 14, 2017, Basel
• Michael C. Vazquez, Writer and editor, New York/London
• Marina Warner, Writer, London
• Ala Younis, Artist, curator and co-director of Global Art Forum 8, Amman
• Tirdad Zolghadr, Writer and curator, Ramallah
‘Meanwhile…History’ has been programmed by writer Shumon Basar; the curator-translator Omar Berrada, co-director of Dar al-Ma’mûn in Marrakech; and the artist and curator Ala Younis.
Mr Berrada said: ‘The Global Art Forum is a unique event, for its idiosyncratic format, its eclectic approach to art and knowledge, and its enduring appeal. Through this year’s iteration, we hope to achieve world-class conversation and thought-provocation around topics that we think should be on everyone’s mind.’
For more information on the Global Art Forum visit the Art Dubai website here.
