Star Artists Of Tomorrow To Be Given A Chance To Exhibit Their Work In DUCTACs New Rotational Gallery

DUCTAC (Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre) is well known as a hub for Dubai’s artistic community and as a keen supporter of emerging artists eager to make their mark on the UAE art scene. The non-profit creative centre is set to extend its support for young and emerging local artists even further with the launch of its new Rotational Gallery.

Located on the upper floor of DUCTAC’s Manu Chhabria Art Centre (which is also home to the Gallery of Light), DUCTAC’s Rotational Gallery will give students and emerging artists the opportunity to display and sell their work. Young professional and student artists can submit their artworks for consideration, with the chosen artists having their work exhibited in the busy art centre, based on level 2 of Mall of the Emirates, for one month. All work will be available for sale and, as well as being a great platform for young artists to gain exposure, the Rotational Gallery also provides the perfect opportunity for art collectors to snap up some work by the UAE’s star artists of the future.

DUCTAC’s Arts Manager Colette Mol said: ‘Like DUCTAC, the Rotational Gallery is starting to develop a reputation as a platform for local artists. It’s an opportunity for emerging artists to have their work seen by the public and also by the creative community who frequent our classes and use our studios. More and more people are venturing up the stairs in the art centre to see the work and it will be interesting to see their reactions as the exhibitions rotate and new artists are exhibited.’

The first artist to have his work shown in the Rotational Gallery is Saul Hardick, 28, who is currently studying photography at the American University in Dubai. Growing up in Dubai, Saul has watched the city develop and this experience provides much of the impetus for his current work. Amidst the alien landscape of contemporary Dubai, Saul seeks the remnants of his childhood, focusing in his eerie landscape photographs on the small pockets of desert landscape that now remain in the city. Through a variety of photographic mediums Saul challenges the methods and intentions behind the expansion of urban centres.

He says that DUCTAC’s Rotational Gallery is providing a much needed opportunity for emerging artists to have their work seen:

‘I think it’s great that DUCTAC are giving student artists such as myself the opportunity to exhibit a large body of work. To be offered the chance to exhibit and sell my work to the public at such an early stage of my career is fantastic. I’m also really enjoying getting feedback on my work from the other artists and students who use the studio facilities at DUCTAC.’

DUCTAC are keen to hear from any professional artists and art students who would be interested in exhibiting in the Rotational Gallery, and are open to submissions in all media, from photography to acrylics, graphic prints to watercolour. If you are interested, please send a proposal, along with some images of your work to artsreception@ductac.org

For more information on DUCTAC please see www.ductac.org or call 04 341 4777.
 

Young Emirati Artist Maisoon Al Saleh Explores The Bright Side Of The Bones In Her First Dubai Solo Exhibition At DUCTACs Gallery Of Light

Throughout the years, the image of the skull has been related primarily to morbid images of poison and danger. Yet through her second solo exhibition, taking place at DUCTAC’s Gallery of Light from 18th January – 2nd February 2011, 23 year-old Emirati artist Maisoon Al-Saleh is determined to reveal the skull’s other side and connotation. The work that makes up Al Saleh’s solo exhibition The Bright Side of the Bones II demonstrates how bones and remains can tell a story far beyond age and gender: they carry a person’s entire life, which man cannot see with his naked eye; and they reflect the imperceptible colours that reveal life within a painting’s dominant blacks and whites.

Through Al Saleh’s paintings, people are brought back to life with brush strokes; and with dedication, examination and scientific view, Al-Saleh visualizes human life and the array of diseases, diets, religious beliefs, genetic connections, class structure and conflicts that we face in our daily lives.

Maisoon Al-Saleh was born in 1988 in Dubai. Since 2008 her art has mixed the figurative and the surreal with her concerns for the modern and the traditional Emirati culture. This is her own unique signature, which continues to fascinate her viewers.

At the age of 16, an X-ray caused Al-Saleh to muse over the complexities of such visual transparency and the human body in general. As a result, she decided to explore this concept through her art. While depicting the dead, Al-Saleh tries to highlight the struggles faced by individuals during their lives. “Each painting has a story based on the realities surrounding me,” she says; and this sense of paradox is evident in all of her paintings.

Al-Saleh received her Interior Design degree from Dubai’s Zayed University in January 2010. Her work has been exhibited in the UAE in exhibitions including Emirati Expressions at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, Art Cars in Manarat Al Saadiyat, and at Al Bastakiya Art Fair 2010. Her work was recently included in the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah by H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Soud Al Qassimi. ‘The Bright Side of the Bones II’ is Al Saleh’s first solo exhibition in Dubai.

On 23rd January, Maisoon Al Saleh will be hosting a concept development workshop, which will give aspiring artists an insight into different ways of generating and representing ideas. Emirati artist Maisoon Al Saleh will share and demonstrate her own concept development process in creating unique and meaningful art. Students will explore methods to develop a concept for their own work and learn how to translate that concept into a working thesis, or artist’s statement.

The workshop is devised to compliment the exhibition and to offer the public an opportunity to enter into an active dialogue with the exhibiting artist.

Maisoon Al Saleh – The Bright Side of the Bones II

Dates: Tuesday 18th January – Wednesday 2nd February

Times: 9am – 10pm (Saturday to Thursday
2pm – 10pm (Fridays and Public Holidays)

Venue: Gallery of Light
DUCTAC
Level 2, Mall of the Emirates

Admission: Free

Concept Development by Maisoon Al Saleh

Date: Sunday, 23 January 2011

Time: 6 pm – 9 pm

Location: Manu Chhabria Arts Centre, DUCTAC

Workshop cost: AED 120
 

Young Dubai Talents To Star In Spotlight Academy @ DUCTAC’s Production Of Hairspray During Dubai Summer Surprises

Young talents from across Dubai are set to star in Spotlight Academy @ DUCTAC’s production of the acclaimed London West End musical Hairspray when it begins on July 13. The show will go on till July 17 at the Centrepoint Theatre, DUCTAC, Mall of the Emirates. Show timings are 7:30pm with additional shows on July 16th and 17th at 2:30pm.

Olivier award winning actress Leanne Jones, who was part of the show’s Original London Cast and took on the critically acclaimed role of Tracy Turnblad, worked for weeks to help local Dubai students learn, prepare, rehearse and perform in the local production.

She was joined by fellow Hairspray Original London Cast member Terel Nugent who will reprise his role of Seaweed J Stubbs, Stephen Mcglynn (Burt in Mary Poppins, Mamma Mia!) who will play Wilbur Turnblad and Antony Stuart-Hicks (Wizard of Oz) who will play Edna Turnblad.

Auditions for the show took place in May with the successful performers taking part in two weeks of intensive theatre workshops and rehearsals with some of the UK’s top creative talent.

Packed with great songs, amazing dance routines and bags of humour, Hairspray is a fun, feel good night out for all the family. Tickets are now available at the DUCTAC box office (04 341 4777) or through www.timeouttickets.com or www.boxofficeme.com

Performances run from Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 July at the Centrepoint Theatre, DUCTAC, Mall of the Emirates. See www.hairspraydubai.com or www.ductac.org for further details
 

Olivier Award Winning Actress Leanne Jones To Work With Young Dubai Talent In Spotlight Academy @ DUCTAC’s Production Of Hairspray

Olivier award winning actress LEANNE JONES has joined Spotlight Academy @ DUCTAC’s forthcoming production of Hairspray and will reprise her critically acclaimed role of Tracy Turnblad in the Tony and Olivier Award winning show.

Leanne, who won the prestigious Olivier Award in 2008 for Best Actress in a Musical for Hairspray, also received the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Newcomer and Theatregoers’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical as a member of the show’s Original London Cast at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London’s West End.

As part of the Spotlight Academy @ DUCTAC team, she will work each day to help local Dubai students learn, prepare, rehearse and perform in Spotlight Academy @ DUCTAC’s first production.

She is joined by fellow Hairspray Original London Cast member TEREL NUGENT who will reprise his role of Seaweed J Stubbs, STEPHEN McGLYNN (Burt in Mary Poppins, Mamma Mia!) who will play Wilbur Turnblad and ANTONY STUART-HICKS (Wizard of Oz) who will play Edna Turnblad.

Hairspray is the first production from SPOTLIGHT ACADEMY @ DUCTAC, which gives the very best local talent the chance to work, rehearse and perform alongside some of the UK’s leading theatrical stars. Auditions took place in May with the successful performers taking part in two weeks of intensive theatre workshops and rehearsals with some of the UK’s top creative talent, culminating in SEVEN performances of Hairspray in DUCTAC’s magnificent Centrepoint Theatre.

The show is produced on behalf of DUCTAC by JC Theatre Productions and The Shakespeare 4 Kidz Theatre Company. Producer and Director Julian Chenery, who has brought his acclaimed Shakespeare 4 Kidz shows to Dubai for the past 4 years, is delighted that Leanne has found time to squeeze the Spotlight Academy @ DUCTAC into her busy schedule.

“Leanne was a sensation when she burst onto the West End stage as Tracy Turnblad. She is one of the most talented musical theatre stars in the world and tremendous fun. I know that everyone who is lucky enough to be part of this exciting production will love her and learn so much from working with her.”

Leanne arrives in Dubai directly from the London production of Jonathan Larsson’s Tick, Tick, Boom! and prior to a UK tour of Dave Simpson’s play The Naked Truth.

Packed with great songs, amazing dance routines and bags of humour, Hairspray is a fun, feel good night out for all the family. So don’t miss your chance to see Leanne performing live on stage in Dubai alongside the stars of the future – book your tickets now at the DUCTAC box office (04 341 4777) or through www.timeouttickets.com or www.boxofficeme.com

Performances run from Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 July at the Centrepoint Theatre, DUCTAC, Mall of the Emirates.

See www.hairspraydubai.com or www.ductac.org for further details