Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is using the months before its December 11 opening to bring the public into contact with the ideas and artists that will define the museum. A series of events across Abu Dhabi’s cultural institutions runs through September, with further programming to follow.
The first activation is already underway. “Network of Answers,” a commissioned work by Australian artist Agatha Gothe-Snape, is on show at Manarat Al Saadiyat from September 22 to October 22.
The piece takes the form of a phone booth installation that invites visitors to respond to a series of questions, with the aim of building a collective archive of voices from Abu Dhabi. No registration is required.
Later in the month, Egyptian-Armenian artist Chant Avedissian takes over Manarat Al Saadiyat for three days from September 25 to 27, 2pm to 7pm. The pop-up series will bring together talks, workshops and interactive sessions exploring his practice, which reinterpreted Egypt’s cultural icons and collective memory through a contemporary visual language.
The September calendar closes on the 29th at Louvre Abu Dhabi, where artist Rachid Koraïchi and curator Abdelkader Damani will speak at 6pm about abstraction as a shared artistic language.
Their conversation will take in calligraphy, geometry and the relationship between Islamic heritage and contemporary practice. Registration is required for both the Avedissian and Koraïchi events.
The museum has said it will announce further programming ahead of the December opening, spanning talks, activations and outreach initiatives across the UAE.
