Day: February 25, 2023

PARIS, The Internet For Trust Conference, which is organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), has brought together 4,300 participants to discuss regulatory solutions to the ongoing crisis of online information – the first ever such global conference.

Speakers from UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, to the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa underlined the urgent need for common global guidelines to improve the reliability of information while protecting human rights.

“The blurring of boundaries between true and false, the highly-organised denial of scientific facts, the amplification of disinformation and conspiracies – these did not originate on social networks. But, in the absence of regulation, they flourish there much better than the truth. Only by taking the full measure of this technological revolution can we ensure it does not sacrifice human rights, freedom of expression and democracy. For information to remain a common good, we must reflect and act now, together,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said.

The Internet For Trust Conference serves as a high point in a global dialogue launched by UNESCO to develop first global guidelines for the regulation of social media to improve the reliability of information and promote human rights online. The Organisation involved all stakeholders: governments, independent regulators, digital companies, academia and civil society. The guidelines will be launched by UNESCO in September 2023.

Marie Ressa, the Novel Peace prize-winning journalist, explained that “lies spread faster than facts. For some reason, facts are really boring. Lies – especially when laced with fear, with anger, with hate, with tribalism – us against them. They spread,” describing it as “throwing a lit match into kindling”.

She went on to caution that if we continue to tolerate social media algorithms which reward lies, future generations will inherit a world in which truth has been dangerously devalued. “Without facts, you can’t have truth, without truth, you can’t have trust, and we have no shared reality,” Ressa affirmed.

In his message to the Conference, the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, recalled the violent attacks on democratic institutions in Brazil on 8th January.

“What happened that day was the culmination of a campaign, initiated much earlier, and that used lies and disinformation as ammunition. To a large extent, this campaign was nurtured, organised, and disseminated through digital platforms and messaging apps. This is the same method used to generate acts of violence elsewhere in the world. It must stop,” the Brazilian President urged.

The Director-General of UNESCO pointed out the proliferation of regulatory initiatives – at least 55 countries are working on these. But she advocated a coherent, global approach, based on human rights. “If these regulatory initiatives are developed in isolation, with each country working in their own corner, they are doomed to fail. Information disruption is by definition a global problem, so our reflections must take place at the global scale,” she said.

Meanwhile, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, said, “Discussions, such as the ones we are having now in Paris, are immensely important. It’s important to figure out a common set of guidelines on how to regulate this digital space. Technology cannot be misused to suppress people, to surveil or harass, or to?shut down the internet.”

Azoulay closed by urging all countries to join UNESCO’s efforts to transform the internet into a tool which is truly at the service of the public and that helps assure the right to freedom of expression; a right which includes the right to seek and receive information.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Art Dubai has announced the full programme details for its 16th edition, taking place at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai from 3rd to 5th March, 2023.

Art Dubai 2023’s gallery programme will feature over 130 presentations from more than 40 countries and six continents, across four sections: Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba (featuring exclusively new work) and Art Dubai Digital, and will include more than 30 first-time participants.

Art Dubai’s Executive Director Benedetta Ghione commented, “Art Dubai has always tried to reframe what an art fair can be, and this year’s expanded programme fully reflects our role as a meeting point for the region’s creative industries, both commercial and not-for-profit. As an innovative public-private partnership, we have been an incubator of talent, a catalyst for the creative economy here in Dubai, a convener of great minds, and an entry point to this vibrant ecosystem for the wider cultural sector.”

Further highlights of the 2023 programme include artwork premières by some of the art world’s most exciting names, and a series of 10 newly commissioned performance works by artists from across South Asia. Produced in partnership with Art Dubai’s galleries and several leading South Asian cultural organisations, these new site-specific works will comprise daily performances and food-based experiences, exploring themes of community, celebration, hope, and connection.

Continuing the fair’s long-standing commitment to dialogue, diverse voices and development of Dubai’s cultural infrastructure, the 2023 programme will feature more than 50 sessions in an ambitious daily conference, talks and education programme. Highlights include the 16th edition of Art Dubai’s flagship Global Art Forum, the first Dubai edition of Christie’s Art+Tech summit, a series of Modern and Collector talks developed in partnership with Dubai Collection, and a new event in partnership with the Art Business Conference, focusing on sustainability.

Art Dubai is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair’s strategic partner. Madinat Jumeirah is the home of Art Dubai.

Art Dubai’s Artistic Director Pablo del Val commented, “As the global art fair landscape shifts, Art Dubai continues to play an important role profiling and supporting the cultural ecosystems of the Global South and the programme this year fully reflects this region’s growing importance, energy and vibrancy. One of our strongest ever gallery line-ups, complemented by an expanded commissioning and thought-leadership programme, highlights the breadth of discourse that is happening here, and offers a glimpse into the past, present and future of this important region.”

Not-for-profit Programming

At the centre of the fair’s not-for-profit programme is Art Dubai Commissions, a platform that invites artists to produce site-specific works at the fair, supporting artistic production by local and international artists.

Taking place in a purpose-built space, the 2023 Commissions programme will comprise daily performances and food-based experiences that will explore themes of community, celebration, hope, and connection.

Featured artists will include Prajakta Potnis, Rathin Barman, Gunjan Kumar, Anoli Perera and Tayeba Begum Lipi, and others. The programme is developed in close collaboration with several of Art Dubai’s exhibiting galleries and leading institutions who are playing a key role in supporting artists and artistic production in South Asia. Partners on this ambitious project include Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation in collaboration with Britto Arts Trust, Ishara Art Foundation, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Kochi-Muziris Biennale and Samdani Art Foundation.

Art Dubai 2023 marks the 10th edition of Campus Art Dubai (CAD), Art Dubai’s flagship initiative to develop the region’s future cultural leaders and a core component of the fair’s extensive year-round education programme. CAD was the first programme of its kind in the region, developed to provide existing and aspiring members of the region’s cultural and creative community with educational and professional opportunities. The 2023 edition will feature two concurrent strands. The first strand, CAD Public Art, aims to build sector knowledge and capacity in the rapidly developing field of public art commissioning.

The second, CAD 10.0 Professional Development, will expand to include placements at both Art Dubai and other leading UAE cultural institutions, including Alserkal Avenue and Art Jameel in Dubai, and Abu Dhabi’s independent platform for emerging artists 421 who, in the second year of collaboration with Art Dubai, will present a group exhibition curated by UAE-based artist and researcher Dania Al Tamimi. Featuring artworks that pose the question: Does time move through you, or do you move through time?, the exhibition will explore time as “the binding element of the biography of objects, the active archive of lives, and the solidifying catalyst of experiences”.

Curated by Singapore-based educator and arts writer Clara Che Wei Peh, the expanded 2023 edition of Art Dubai Digital welcomes a selection of participants with innovative new media programmes, a range of digital platforms building virtual art spaces alongside artist collectives, new institutional models and more traditional bricks and mortar galleries. Together, these platforms are challenging and pushing forward new models for artistic production and support.

First-time presentations at Art Dubai Digital 2023 will include Lian Foundation, established by private collector, patron and expert in Blockchain Technology Fiorenzo Manganiello; 6529 with their decentralised Open Metaverse project; and UAE First Immersion, a presentation of new artworks by some of the leading names in crypto art, produced after they visited the UAE for the first time in November 2022, presented in collaboration with MORROW Collective. The presentation will feature new works by artists including Coldie, Colborn Bell, Monaris, Bryan Brinkman, Kirk Finkel and Raphael Torres, and the works will be made available first to collectors at Art Dubai 2023.

Conference and Thought-leadership Programme

Each year, Art Dubai invites leading artists, curators, technologists and thinkers to the city to exchange ideas, and this year’s programme will expand significantly, to include more than 50 sessions across the five days of the fair. Art Dubai’s celebrated transdisciplinary conference Global Art Forum, commissioned by Shumon Basar, will explore the theme ‘Predicting the Present’ and consider the central question: if it’s the end of history and the end of the future, what happens next? Speakers will include Lukas Amacher, Head of Art, Dialectic and 1of1 works; Sumayya Vally, Principle of Counterspace, Architect of the 2021 Serpentine Pavilion and Curator of the 1st Islamic Biennale in Jeddah; and Chiara Costa, Head of Programmes at Fondazione Prada.

Presented in partnership with Dubai Collection, Art Dubai’s 2023 edition will also feature a series of Collector and Modern Talks. The Collector Talks will focus on the collectors and patrons who are driving the development of art scenes across the Global South and supporting the redistribution of cultural centres across the world. Sessions will focus on emerging trends in both traditional and digital collecting across the region, and what it means to be an arts patron in a place that is developing and implementing new institutional models. Panellists will include noted collectors Qinwen Wang, Fiorenzo Manganiello and Teo Yang. Accompanying Art Dubai’s Modern section will be a series of Modern Talks that will invite guest speakers to explore topics of 20th Century artists and art forms from the Middle East and North Africa, hold critical discussions on current trends in collecting across the region and the decolonisation of our art-historical canon.

This year, Christie’s will host its first regional Art+Tech summit in partnership with Art Dubai. Established in 2018, the sixth iteration of the summit – in conjunction with Christie’s annual summit in New York – aims to bring together regional and global leaders, innovators, artists, and visionaries to foster meaningful dialogues on the intersection of art and technology. Blending east and west by bringing in both regional and global voices, the one-day conference will survey trends, hear from artists who are incorporating technology in their practices, and explore current challenges and future opportunities to collaborate. Confirmed speakers will be announced shortly.

In another first, Art Dubai is collaborating with the renowned Art Business Conference on a special session at the fair, focused on exploring topics of sustainability in the art world.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, The 11th edition of Sikka Art and Design Festival, which runs until 5 March in Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, is providing a platform for creative visions and artistic installations.

Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has filled Sikka House and Khaleeji House with inspiring and elegant artwork influenced by the local and regional heritage, thus reflecting the richness and diversity of the arts sector, and the remarkable cultural and artistic movement Dubai is witnessing.

With innovative ideas and designs, the artworks presented within Sikka House highlight the creativity of Emirati artists, including designer Omar Al Najjar, founder of Velini, who used Sikka as an umbrella to express his love for watches, as his Crosshair collection depicts his passion for interesting watch design. The artwork ‘They Write Stories About Places Like These’ gave artist Sarah Al Saman the opportunity to express her vision of adventure in all its forms, whether place, book, or even a song.

Through the artwork ‘Unfolding’, Salmah Almansoori studies her relationship and feelings for her hometown, Ghayathi, located in western Abu Dhabi, believing that the fabrics within it fold, hold and hide the space’s intimacy, identity, and history; reflecting on these places’ physicality by intuitively adding colours, driven by memories, emotions, and experiences. Elsewhere, Hamda Al Falahi excelled in embroidered Talli, to produce her work ‘so.la.ay,’ an experimental thoub line inspired by Arabic poetry and curated by ashadasmal.

Designer Mayed Abdullah also showcases his passion for fashion design through his artwork ‘constructions site’, mixing classic pieces with street fashion influenced by two-dimensional geometric shapes and connected lines. Artist Amna Albanna restores nostalgia of the 90s to the modern-day trends via her work ‘BRX Fabrics’, while Ayesha Hader, confirms that art is a form of togetherness through her work ‘Portable Installations,’ a series of handbags made from a wide array of materials, including brass, carpets, acrylic, and silver.

Jewelry design also shows itself in Sikka House, where Misk Jewellery, through its ‘Heritage Collection,’ re-imagines the region’s heritage with contemporary jewels, balancing the gemstones with 18 karat gold, while Naraya Jewellery reveals its latest designs, represented by the innovative ‘My Lady’ collection, to celebrate the beauty and magic of gemstones, and the story they tell through their remarkable characteristics.

Artists Ayesha Ahmed Almarar and Marie-Clarie Bakker present a collborative 3D artwork titled ‘Maryat Um Hilal – Before It’s Forgotten,’ a necklace made of golden beads, and a crescent moon inlaid with pearls and rubies. Through it, they aim to highlight the importance of documenting and preserving traditional jewelry, with the aim of creating the ‘Before It’s Forgotten’ campaign in the UAE.

With its rich visual artwork, the house showcases 3 artists from the UAE, Bahrain and Oman, respectively. In her installation ‘Nostalgia,’ Omani artist Hamda Salem sheds light on old homes and childhood memories, while Emirati Hamdan Al Shamsi produces his work ‘Untitled,’ exploring nostalgia through the mixed media collage pieces of glitched family album photos to provide a sensory experience through items such as cassette tapes, radios and old magazines. Bahraini artist Yara Ayoub’s installation ‘Wa Traimboh’ is a modification of the pronunciation of English words (white rainbow), in which she recalls pre-wedding ceremony rituals in Bahraini culture.

Source: Emirates News Agency