DUBAI, Dec 18 — Art Dubai Projects, a curated program of residences and new commissions, has announced its participating artists for 2015.

The initiative commissions artists to create new, site-specific works, which will be exhibited at the Art Dubai fair in March next year as part of an expansive not-for-profit program. It is divided into the A.i.R residency programme and the Art Dubai Commissions program.

A.i.R Dubai will return to the city’s Al Fahidi historic district for the fourth time. This three-month program sees six artists develop their projects for Art Dubai while in-residence in the UAE, working together in studios and taking part in an expanded outreach program of talks, reading groups, screenings, publications and open studios.

The 2015 edition will feature UAE-based artists Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, photographer and writer Hind Mezaina, Sharmeen Syed, whose practice references architectural research, and painter and multi-media artist Jessica Mein. Foreign participants include the Amsterdam-based Mehraneh Atashi, who works in photography, video and installation, as well as Beirut-based Rheim Alkadhi, who weaves poetic collages from objects, texts and images.

The newly established Art Dubai Commissions will see five works developed with local and international partner organisations, designed to extend the life and influence of the project beyond the fair in March.

Palestinian multi-media artist Jumana Emil Abboud will develop an interactive installation and performance work, Umashankar and the Earchaeologists—a collective comprising artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, curator Nida Ghouse and scientist Umashankar Manthravadi—will investigate the nature of ‘acoustic archaeology’, and Fari Bradley and Chris Weaver will create a major new sound installation and performance based on their research in the UAE.

Renowned Brazilian artist Maria Thereza Alves will create a garden from reclaimed dormant seeds and Lahore-based artist Mehreen Murtaza will create an interactive installation that references narratives of science fiction.

The ninth edition of Art Dubai takes place March 18-21, 2015.

For more information see: artdubai.ae/programme. — AFP-Relaxnews