The Louvre Abu Dhabi opened its doors just over five years ago, but five years is a long time in the UAE’s burgeoning art scene.
“I think five years ago this generation of artists would have been terrified of coming up with something to exhibit at Louvre Abu Dhabi,” says Nasser Alzayani, the Bahrain-born artist who has become the last year the first winner of the Richard Mille Art Prize. “I believe that through our exposure and the first iteration of the award, it opened up that opportunity to a lot of people.”
The award is now in its second year and an exhibition of the ten shortlisted artists is on display at the Forum, a two-level exhibition space at Louvre Abu Dhabi. It gives contemporary art a place in a museum that tells the story of human creativity since prehistoric times and puts artists from the region alongside the great names in European art history, including Leonardo da Vinci. , of which Saint Jean Baptist (1513-16) is currently on loan from the Louvre in Paris.
“This is a project we had in mind since the opening of the museum,” explains Souraya Noujaim, director of conservation at Louvre Abu Dhabi. But the partnership with Richard Mille helped make it possible in its current form. “Contemporary art is an area where the Louvre Abu Dhabi wanted to develop. We wanted to give a platform to local artists.
Vikram Divecha’s Wall House featured in the Richard Mille Art Prize 2022 exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi
Photo: Augustine Paredes – Seeing things. Courtesy of Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi
For the first iteration, the prize was open to artists originating from or working in the United Arab Emirates. This time it has been extended to the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The jury received 246 entries, 79% of which came from the United Arab Emirates and the rest from the wider region. Artists were invited to submit new or existing works of art that engage with the notions of “icon” and “iconic”, and “how they resonate within contemporary artistic practices and inform new artistic perspectives”.
Despite the large number of high-caliber entries, the judging panel had no problem narrowing down the shortlist to ten, Noujaim says. “Interestingly enough, the choice was very simple. We converged on these artists who essentially worked on matter and materiality, who worked on the concept of the deconstruction of the icon. In a way, they put sustainability at the center of their work.
The works presented in the Art Here 2022 exhibition-curator by juror and director of the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation Reem Fadda-are diverse in media and process, but are “tied by a thread”, as Noujaim describes it. Several of the shortlisted artists grew up in Abu Dhabi or Dubai and the constant transformation they have experienced has had an impact on their work. For example, nominees Zeinab Alhashemi and Afra Al Dhaheri both use building materials in their works, such as frayed ropes and rusty steel mesh. They also share a muted color palette derived from those desert towns. Other artists find meaning in what is lost: traditional trades that are forgotten, a nature that faces destruction, elements of heritage that are being demolished.
Many shortlisted artists have been working for around ten years. They have seen the art scene in Abu Dhabi and the region transform as rapidly as the built environment. “There are a lot more younger artists now,” says Alzayani. While the previous generation of artists in the UAE centered on Hassan Sharif, considered the father of conceptual art in the Gulf, and were mostly self-taught, the new generation has extensive international experience. They have studied in the UK or the USA, participated in artist residencies around the world and participated in prestigious local events such as the Sharjah Biennale, the Desert X AlUla public art commission in Saudi Arabia and the Abu Dhabi Art Fair, which takes place every November at Manarat Al Saadiyat, a short drive from the Louvre.
“[The art scene] changed significantly when fine arts education was introduced at the university level,” says Alzayani. “There is now the first MFA program in the United Arab Emirates, which opened a few years ago at New York University in Abu Dhabi. It really created a change in the journey of artists. And because of that I think [the scene] is oriented towards communities of artists who work together and [being] supporting each other rather than working in isolation.
It was the importance of solidarity within the region’s artistic community that prompted Alzayani and his six other shortlisted artists to share the $50,000 prize, following in the footsteps of the 2019 Turner Prize nominees in the United Kingdom. United.
“Given the art scene in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, most artists know each other. It is growing very quickly, but it is still quite small,” says Alzayani. “More than half of the shortlisted artists [last time] were my colleagues and peers. We thought it didn’t make sense for us to compete with each other. And we wanted it to be a gesture to show that artists in the region are trying to try to build a community.
Besides the obvious benefits of being shortlisted for the prize, such as the chance to exhibit at the Louvre and benefit from media attention, sharing the money has allowed artists to expand their practices. “One of the things we all struggle with in the UAE is having studio spaces. The way things are set up doesn’t take into account that people want to rent cheap space so they can set up a studio. Having the prize money can allow you to do just that, to do a job that you’ve always wanted to do and never had the chance.
Nasser Alzayani received the inaugural award from music star Pharrell Williams during a ceremony at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Photo: Augustine Paredes – Seeing things. Courtesy of Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi
Alzayani moved to Abu Dhabi about eight years ago from Sharjah and had previously completed an MFA in the United States. Upon arriving in the city, he participated in the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship, a ten-month program that provided studio space, materials, lectures and workshops. Four of the shortlisted artists from the previous award and three of the current artists also participated in this program, which Alzayani says has “filled an important gap in the artistic ecosystem”.
Fellowship participants are encouraged to engage in constructive criticism of their own work and that of their peers. “When I first started going to shows, there was little to no conversation asking why is this work successful or why isn’t it? It was accepted that you go to shows to congratulate someone. one and then move on. It wasn’t a conversation asking how can I improve myself, and others, through critical response so that the whole community of artists can grow?”
What will take the region’s art scene to the next level? “There’s a lot of support but I think what’s missing is institutions with collections paying more attention to the art created here,” says Alzayani.
It is also something important for Noujaim. “My goal is to start a dialogue between contemporary art and ancient art,” she says, pointing to the Louvre exhibition of Michelangelo Pistoletto (1933-) among the artifacts in her collection. Parallel to the Richard Mille Art Prize, an exhibition of Parisian paintings, Impressionism: the paths of modernity, which covers another moment in history when artists grappled with a modernizing city and society. “A universal museum is not just for the past – the past feeds the present.”
Plans for next year’s prize are still in the works, but Noujaim hints that he could see the exhibition expand beyond the walls of the Forum gallery. The opportunities for artists in the region increase every year, but the ambition of these artists increases accordingly. “I know that’s the case for the people I teach,” says Alzayani. “They applied this time and weren’t admitted, but say they’ll apply next time because they think it’s important to put themselves forward. A prize like this can set a goal for many people.
• Art Here 2022 takes place at the Louvre Abu Dhabi until March 19
• The winner of the Richard Mille Art Prize 2022 will be announced on March 20
• Find the interviews of all the artists here
