Panel Talk at Tashkeel: Art Critique in the UAE

Tea with Culture

This episode is a recording of a talk titled Art Critique in the UAE which took place in Dubai on September 10th at Tashkeel. Thanks to Tashkeel for letting us share the talk with our listeners. About the talk: Can a Culture of Critique Exist in the UAE? Why has the UAE seemingly resisted the culture of critique? Who is contributing to changing the dynamic? Do we even need to think critically about contemporary art? Can a Culture of Critique Exist in the UAE? Why has the UAE seemingly resisted the culture of critique? Who is contributing to changing the dynamic? Do we even need to think critically about contemporary art? Moderated by Kevin Jones, arts writer, UAE Desk Editor for ArtAsiaPacific and founder of Juniper Mind, with a panel that included artists Afra Al Dhaheri and Rania Jishi, Umer Butt from Grey Noise Gallery, and Tea with Culture's Hind Mezaina. The discussion addressed the presumed barriers to critique in the UAE arts ecosystem, the blossoming opportunities to cultivate critique, and a speculative leap into the future of local critique. The panelists assessed the current state of “crit”—from burgeoning grassroots artist-run collectives to the complex feedback loop of the artist/gallerist tandem. They decoded the critical landscape today in the UAE—who are the critics, what influence do they wield—before imagining the stakes of a fully matured culture of critique—how would this be different from what exists elsewhere, what would be the uniquely UAE inflection? https://tashkeel.org http://junipermind.com https://www.afraaldhaheri.com https://www.greynoise.org