To mark the UAE’s most celebratory year to date – its 50th National Day and Expo 2020 opening its doors to the globe – Louvre Abu Dhabi will launch a contemporary art exhibition on November 16, titled ‘Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021′, to shine a spotlight on local talent.
In collaboration with Swiss watchmaking brand Richard Mille, the inaugural edition will be centred around the theme of ‘Memory, Time and Territory’, and the artists shortlisted by a jury will be featured in the museum’s Forum, a space of interaction and exchange dedicated to contemporary art. From those that are shortlisted, the jury will also select one winner for the first edition of The Richard Mille Art Prize.
The 2021 jury line-up is an impressive one with four members from diverse artistic spheres including curatorial, architectural and institutional. The members include H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Chairman of UAE Unlimited; Christine Macel, the Chief Curator at the Musée national d’art moderne; Hala Wardé, founding architect of HW Architecture; and Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director.
The jury will be responsible for selecting the shortlist of artists to participate in the upcoming exhibition, from the ongoing open call for proposals, and following the exhibition launch will award a $50,000 cash prize to the 2021 recipient of The Richard Mille Art Prize.
“Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021 breathes new life into the role of the museum by not merely celebrating the past, but rooting and contextualising contemporary art in its present setting through interactions and links with contemporary artists,” said Dr. Noujaim.
“We are happy to launch this new chapter in collaboration with Richard Mille, marking Louvre Abu Dhabi’s continued extension into contemporary art and highlighting our ever-present dedication to local artistic talent. For this first edition, we are privileged to have the support and expertise of our esteemed jury members, who have demonstrated their commitment to Louvre Abu Dhabi and their strong interest in the local contemporary art scene.”
For any UAE-based artists interested in submitted their proposals, they can submit it via Louvre Abu Dhabi’s website.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021 exhibition will run from November 16, 2021 to March 27, 2022.
