Two exhibitions celebrating creativity in the region to open from 15 November 2016

Warehouse421, a creative space designed to inspire, support and celebrate the arts and cultural scene in the UAE, will present two exhibitions from 15 November 2016 that exhibit the vast array of creative talent currently emerging and developing throughout the Arab World.

Representing the culmination of the yearlong Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship program (SEAF) will be the Community & Critique: SEAF 2015/16 Cohort 3 Show, displaying works by sixteen artists who have recently completed this unique educational program. Following this will be the 100/100 Hundred Best Arabic Posters, celebrating the diversity in visual culture in the region by bringing the winning posters from the annual Arab poster design competition to Warehouse421 on the second stop of the exhibition’s regional tour.

Khulood Khaldoon Al Atiyat, Manager of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation commented: “Launching these exhibitions at Warehouse421 in November, as the international arts and culture community turn their attention to Abu Dhabi, offers an insight into the wealth of emerging talent throughout the Arab World today. Through initiatives such as the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship Program we aim to nurture emerging artists in the UAE, and offer them a platform to present their artworks to the community and the world.”

Throughout the yearlong program focusing on the artistic development process, the critique process, the immersive studio practice, and an online community, SEAF Fellows develop their artistic skills, establish a greater understanding of their work, and strengthen their ability to articulate their ideas. Following the success of the show’s initial run in 2016, Community & Critique: SEAF 2015/16 Cohort 3 Show will reopen to the public from 15 to 27 November 2016. The sixteen artists chosen to be part of the 2015/2016 program have been asked to bring their final creative projects outside the intimacy of the SEAF studios, providing them with an opportunity to share their works with the community. The critique asks participants to articulate their works formally and conceptually, contributing to the complexity and richness of processes that lead to sustained artistic practice.

Ahmad Saqfalhait, Co-Founder of 100/100 Hundred Best Arabic Posters said: “The 100/100 Hundred Best Arabic Posters is a competition from the region, for the region, but these poster designs are for international audiences to see. By hosting the second stop on this tour, Warehouse421 is providing a platform to showcase the diversity of visual cultures to the people of the UAE, while celebrating the evolution of Arabic graphic design.”

Honoring the best 100 posters from all over the Arab World, 100/100 - Hundred Best Arabic Posters celebrates the variety of visual cultures united through the Arabic language. With a mission to recognize, promote and expand the Arabic graphic design scene, any designer from the region can participate in the competition. The criteria for entering a design are that it either was designed by an Arab, or published in the Arab world, regardless of the written language, since we are celebrating the Arab world visual language. Having been exhibited as part of Amman Design Week in September 2016, the exhibition will travel to Warehouse421 where it will be open to the public until 9 February 2017