Alserkal Arts Foundation welcomes the public to experience thought provoking cultural productions that aim to challenge perspectives. The Foundation has curated a rich programme running through February and March that is open for everyone to engage with resident artists and researchers who are challenging the concept of conventional learning. The programme features eye-catching public artworks, interactive sessions, talks, tours and experimental ideas.

Nada Raza, Director of Alserkal Arts Foundation, said: “Our programming this spring reflects our interest in supporting research-based artistic practices that give our audiences a chance to explore alternative ways to think about important cultural and social issues. Each of our residents brings a different perspective, opening up new dialogues with regional geographies. The Tree School demonstrates our commitment to alternative learning and creating space for discussion, inviting everyone to join and learn from each other. Our public art commissions help extend and push artistic practice into new and ambitious directions.”

Alserkal Arts Foundation’s residency programme is designed to create an intersection between artistic and cultural practices and academic research. This Spring, the Foundation welcomes researcher Jalila Haider from Quetta, Pakistan, artist Masaru Iwai from Tokyo, Japan, musician MhamadSafa who is from Beirut, Lebanon and now lives in London, United Kingdom, and artist Shada Safadi from Palestine who lives and works between the West Bank and Golan Heights. They will share their work and perspectives with the public during Open Studio presentations at Alserkal Arts Foundation on March 4, and will also present individual talks and performances throughout March 2023.

Announcing the Tree School with Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti who work under the name DAAR – Decolonizing Architecture Art Research – Learning under the shade of a tree is a common practice found in many cultures around the world. Tree School sessions are open for registration, and the Foundation invites people from all walks of life to come together and learn from each other, sharing their own lived experiences, in an unconventional format.

New interventions by Sarah Almehairi and Timo Nasseri join the Public Art Commissions around Alserkal Avenue as the final artworks to appear under the framework of The Follower, a series of commissioned works by artists represented by galleries located at the Avenue. Sentinels I-IV by Berlin based Timo Nasseri are a new series of neon sculptures that appear across our skyscape, the artist’s first experiments with light. Sarah Almehairi, who lives and works in the UAE, transforms the passages alongside Concrete into a visual poem, don’t overlook the weather (as your thoughts collect), asking visitors to linger and observe both the earth and the sky as they pass through.

The series of site-specific commissions appeared across the avenue from September 2022, launching with Meadow by Fahd Burki at the pedestrian entrance, and Zenith by Ala’ Ebtekar. Passage by SahandHesamiyan was added in November 2022, a stellar canopy that plays with architecture, wind and natural light. Sentinels I-IV by Timo Nasseri appeared across the avenue in January 2023

Part of Alserkal Arts Foundation’s public art commissions in 2022-2023, curated by Nada Raza and produced in collaboration with Alserkal Avenue galleries, Grey Noise and The Third Line, Lawrie Shabibi, and Carbon 12, with special thanks to Kevin Jones.

A tour of the public art commissions, titled Navigate with The Follower, will take place during Alserkal Art Week on 28 February from 3 – 4pm with artists Timo Nasseri and Sarah Al Mehairi and curator Nada Raza.