One of the first contemporary arts institutions in Dubai, Jameel Arts Centre presents curated solo and group exhibitions, drawn both from the Art Jameel Collection and through regional and international collaborations. Located by the creek in Dubai’s Jaddaf Waterfront neighbourhood, the Centre’s galleries are complemented by the Jameel Library, an open-access research centre dedicated to artists and cultural movements in the Gulf states and beyond. The Jameel also includes project and commissions spaces, a writer’s studio, an artisan bakery and local seasonal dining concept and the Art Jameel Shop.
The Centre is a 10,000-square metre, three-storey, multi-disciplinary space designed by UK-based practice Serie Architects. The building is punctuated by seven gardens, designed by landscape architect Anouk Vogel, which reflect local and global desert biomes. Sitting alongside is the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, designed by waiwai, and a collaboration between Art Jameel and Dubai Holding.
Down to Earth 2022, November 27, 2022 | 10am – 8pm
Down to Earth, the UAE’s annual festival celebrating all things green, returns for its third edition on Sunday, November 27, 2022 from 10am to 8pm. Jameel Arts Centre invites both veteran and new gardeners, nature and crafts enthusiasts, the eco-conscious and sustainability-aware to experience a range of entertaining and informative activities for all ages.
Free and open to everyone, Down to Earth features rolling, day-long, drop-in workshops for all ages in the festival’s outdoor arts and crafts zone, demonstrations and information stalls for children, teens and adults themed around sustainable living, plus a programme of talks by eco and sustainability experts. Spanning across Jameel Arts Centre and the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, the yearly festival also includes a Green Bazaar, which offers a broad variety of indoor and outdoor plants, plus related eco-conscious and sustainability-aware gifts and products from local businesses, while the Art Jameel Shop features a special festival-themed collection of books and design objects.
New to this edition of Down to Earth is the first Farmer’s Market – a collaboration with Teible, the farm-to-fork restaurant located at Jameel Arts Centre. The Farmer’s Market invites local farmers offering fresh seasonal produce directly to the community while raising awareness about sustainable practices.
Bimonthly workshops from September 2022 to January 2023:
The Water Diviners IV: Collective Story-Making Inspired by Folklore and Water
September 10, 2022 – January 14, 2023
As part of her long-term practice on Palestinian folk tales and their connection to landscape and water sources, artist Jumana Emil Abboud will be leading a participatory workshop exploring natural water sources in Dubai and the wider U.A.E. Through discussions, collective readings and writing exercises, workshop participants will contribute to the co-authorship of a story of water; thinking through both personal histories and relationships to sites of water as well as tackling broader questions of humanity’s entanglement with ‘the natural’.
Water divining- the ancient art of locating natural sources of water- is the conceptual driver for this workshop series, where storytelling is used to locate sites of water geographically, historically and culturally. The workshop series will culminate in a performance based on the co-authored texts and imaginaries, to be performed collectively at selected sites of water on Sunday, January 15th 2023.
The initial meeting for the workshops will take place at the Jameel Arts Centre, continuing online approximately every two weeks. Please note this is a series of workshops and participants are expected to commit to the full series. Session will be led in English but writings can be in a language of choice
Jumana Emil Abboud uses drawing, video, performance and text to navigate themes of memory, loss, and resilience. Her creative practice is inspired by Palestinian oral history, with a focus on folktales and their connection to actual sites within the landscape, and to water sources in particular. Abboud lives and works in Jerusalem and London where she is currently a PhD candidate at Slade School of Art.
Jameel Arts Centre is free and open to the public. Jameel Arts Centre welcomes visitors Monday-Sunday, from 10am-6pm (Fridays 12pm – 8 pm) and is closed on Tuesdays.
