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Dubai-based businessman and Alserkal Avenue founder Abdelmonem bin Eisa Alserkal (pictured) has announced the launch of the Alserkal Arts Foundation. Photograph by Mohamed Somji. Courtesy Alserkal Arts Foundation.
On March 18, Emirati businessman and founder of Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue arts precinct Abdelmonem bin Eisa Alserkal announced the launch of the Alserkal Arts Foundation, dedicated to supporting cultural practitioners who produce work in or about Dubai and the wider regional art scene.
The Foundation aims to develop Dubai’s artistic community and facilitate international cultural exchange through four core initiatives: public art commissions, residencies, research grants, and educational programs. According to the press release, the Foundation “will serve as the nonprofit arm of Alserkal [Avenue], providing a new, formalised structure for the organisation’s existing nonprofit activities, such as Alserkal Residency.” Of the Foundation’s new initiatives, a grant program will offer between USD 5,000–10,000 to support interdisciplinary research in the arts, humanities and social sciences with a focus on the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Artists, filmmakers, writers, independent publishers, and academics are invited to apply for 2020 grants from October 1, 2019 until January 31, 2020.
Alserkal Avenue director Vilma Jurkute remarked of the new Foundation: “We’re continuing to challenge convention by fostering artistic development in Dubai and by supporting collaborative, socially engaged and multidisciplinary practices.”
The announcement on the Alserkal Arts Foundation coincided with the opening of the Ishara Art Foundation, which is also based in Alserkal Avenue, and is devoted to promoting South Asian art.
Xuan Wei Yap is ArtAsiaPacific’s editorial intern.
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