In Real Time

The NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Art Gallery marked ten years since its founding with the opening of its exhibition, In Real Time. The exhibition will continue to grow and change over the coming months.

The exhibition is curated by Executive Director of the NYUAD Art Gallery Maya Allison, with a curatorial intervention by Curator and Research Assistant Professor Duygu Demir, who recently joined NYU Abu Dhabi. They write, “This e-flux announcement marks a moment in time, as history unfolds around us. The exhibition allows for an ongoing exchange among three collaborators: the artist/s; the visitor/s; and the keepers of the Art Gallery at NYU Abu Dhabi. In Real Time is an unfolding project to visit and revisit, about being physically present with the traces left by artists (and others), and hints of those who will be come in the future.

“This exhibition emerged in response to a sense of urgency: perhaps art can offer something different from the news, from the scroll, and yet not distract us or make us forget.”

A diverse group of artists have joined the experiment, and the list continues to grow. Some artworks will appear first as a letter of intent. Some will be changed by performers. Some might only last one day. Some are already made, with a specific message: consider the space around yourself. Two of the works will be made entirely by the hands of the community. The curators invite you to be one of the participants.

Allison writes, “What do we need from a space for art in this particular moment, in this particular part of the world, in a university, in an academic gallery? We hope this exhibition allows for any number of responses.”

Currently, the list of artists in the exhibition include Moza Almatrooshi, Rana Begum, Chafa Ghaddar, Gözde İlkin, Sol LeWitt, Cristiana de Marchi, and Haleh Redjaian, as well as the artist trio Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian with Julie Becton Gillum and Kiori Kawai. As new artists or performers are added, the Art Gallery’s social media will announce artists and artwork developments.

The NYUAD Art Gallery’s founding decade has seen major artist commissions, book publications, and historical research exhibitions from across the globe that have earned it international recognition and awards. It also supports a second venue, the Project Space, which is an exhibition laboratory for the academic and regional community, featuring the work of regional emerging artists, MFA and undergraduate final projects, and faculty-generated exhibitions. Together,  the spaces of NYUAD’s Art Gallery serve as a testing ground for curatorial strategies that nourish innovation around exhibition practice in the Gulf, and in dialogue with the global art world.