Art Night
The Café Arabia Art Nights are organised by local artists Jennifer Simon and Christie Burton, an art forum for artists and art enthusiasts. The forum often kicks off with a short art film, after which the floor is open to discussion about the film itself, personal works, upcoming exhibitions or just about anything the artists want to talk about. ‘Artists can use this forum to announce any exhibition space they’ve found, or upcoming exhibitions or events – anything they want, really, art websites, discussions; it’s really a chance to meet other artists, and also learn something,’ says Jennifer. This September’s forum-goers will get to see Exit Through the Giftshop, the story of how an eccentric French shopkeeper and filmmaker attempted to befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on him. ‘The forum is also a great place for new artists to get to know who’s on the art scene and learn from the established artists,’ says Jennifer, who also plans on including big name guest artists to lead workshops in the near future, and has plenty more planned for the continued development of the group.
Free entry; Art Night is held on the first Monday of every month at 7.30pm. To register, or for more information, contact Jennifer Simon at info@jennifersimon.co.uk, or call Café Arabia on 02 643 9698.
Abu Dhabi Writers
For established, new or aspiring writers, the Abu Dhabi Writers’ group is lead by writers and educators from the Sorbonne, Abu Dhabi University and Zayed University as well as published and bestselling authors from New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the US. ‘They’ve had a writers’ group in Dubai for a while, and the city’s writers wanted a similar one here,’ says Aida Mansour, owner of Café Arabia. ‘This is a group for anyone who’s interested in writing, interested in breaking into the business or maybe just looking for feedback on a writing project. Here they can sit with published writers and get support, instruction and criticism.’ And, as the majority of attendants are professors, instruction is definitely the word of the day: in their last session, the group got an inside look into the process and techniques of a recently published author – gold dust to aspiring writers. ‘I’ve always wanted to support something like this,’ says Aida, ‘Ever since I visited Scotland and toured the spots where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter; I wanted a place that was equally inspiring to writers in Abu Dhabi.’
Free entry; Abu Dhabi Writers is held on the second Wednesday of every month at 7.30pm. To register, or for more information, contact Café Arabia on 02 643 9698, or through the official Facebook page on www.facebook.com/cafearabia
Arabic Readers
Not at intimidating as it sounds, the Arabic Readers group is open to everyone from Sunday philosophers to people who just like the sounds of Arabic reading, even if they don’t understand most of it. ‘Most of these people have studied in the US and UK,’ says Aida Mansour, ‘and rather than forget all about their Arabic, came back with a passion for the language and literature – and they’re not old-school or boring either, they’re what I like to call the Rock ’n’ Roll of Arabia.’
Free entry; Abu Dhabi Writers is held on the last Thursday of every month, at 8pm. To register, or for more information, contact Café Arabia on 02 643 9698, or visit the official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cafearabia
