Next month, Art Jameel will open its new Jameel Arts Centre at the Jaddaf Waterfront by Dubai Creek. Ahead of its highly anticipated opening, Art Jameel has just announced a key feature of the space: the Jameel Library.
The library is the first of its kind being made accessible to the public — it will house more than 2,000 books, journals, theses and catalogues dedicated to contemporary arts in both Arabic and English.
According to a release, “the library’s collection has been in large part crowdsourced from Jameel Arts Centre’s extensive network of local, regional and international artists and academic, arts and cultural organisations. Experts from over 30 organisations have submitted materials that tell the story of the development of the local and regional arts scene and inform the public about regional artists’ practices.”
Upon opening (which is scheduled for November 11, in line with the Jameel Arts Centre’s launch date), the library will be free to all to encourage learning and make knowledge accessible to anyone who seeks it out. Just as the Jameel Arts Centre will host artists in residence, the library is gearing up to do the same for writers, offering a three month residency to one writer each year. Applications for the debut post are open until December 1, 2018.
Furthermore, the library is set to be unlike any other you’ve experienced. Uns Kattan, the Head of Learning and Research at Art Jameel, explains, “The Jameel Library is the first public research centre to focus on the cultural histories of the region; it’s a tremendously exciting and urgent project. This is not a ‘silent library’ but instead one that is alive with talks and events, discussion and debate.”
Until then, find out which famed musical is making its way to Dubai Opera next year.
