A decade after City of Life and the state of filmmaking in the UAE

A discussion with Nora Razian (Head of Exhibitions at Art Jameel) about recent exhibition trends in museums and galleries, specifically how 'research based art' is presented and translated into a final piece of artwork.  The discussion includes questions about the proposition of the work and what are curators and artists demanding from an audience, works made for biennials compared to museum/gallery exhibitions, how best to present durational work like film and video and how can the layout invite and engage viewers to watch them in their entirety. We also discuss labelling, how to accommodate multi-lingual viewers, and how artists present works that challenge and contest dominant art narratives and histories. Links to some of the works mentioned in the discussion: Nepal Picture Library at the 17th Istanbul Biennial https://www.nepalpicturelibrary.org/update/feminist-memory-project-at-istanbul-biennial/ https://bienal.iksv.org/en/17b-artists/feminist-memory-project-nepal-picture-library Lamia Joreige at the 17th Istanbul Biennial https://bienal.iksv.org/en/17b-artists/lamia-joreige Christian Marclay - The Clock  https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/marclay-the-clock-t14038  A Word to Curators - about making exhibitions accessible  https://thewhitepube.co.uk/blog/to-curators/   Watch & Chill 2.0: Streaming Senses at Sharjah Art Foundation  https://sharjahart.org/sharjah-art-foundation/exhibitions/watch-chill-2.0-streaming-senses An Ocean in Every Drop at Jameel Art Centre  https://jameelartscentre.org/whats-on/an-ocean-in-every-drop/ About our guest: Nora Razian manages the exhibitions programme at the Jameel Arts Centre, and contributes to curatorial thinking across the board. Previous roles include heading up programmes at the Sursock Museum, Beirut, and curating public programmes at Tate, London. She has an MA in Anthropology and Cultural Politics from Goldsmiths College, London, where she also designed and taught the MA course ‘Critical Pedagogy in Contested Space’ at the Centre for Arts and Learning.

An interview with Ana Lily Amirpour about her latest film Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, a fantasy adventure about a girl with unusual and dangerous powers who escapes from a mental asylum and tries to make it on her own in New Orleans. We discuss the film, how it relates to current politics, freedom, kindness, sleep, dreams, and dance music. This interview was recorded via Zoom at Cinema Akil on October 1.

Part two of a catch up conversation between Hind Mezaina and Wael Hattar, this one is about the state of cinema in the UAE and beyond. Topics include: - Changed habits of watching films since the pandemic - Cinema vs streaming debate - UAE cinemas and the inconsistent subtitling of non-English language films, lack of efforts by the multiplexes to attract new and diverse audiences to cinemas, high end cinema experience vs affordable cinema - Lack of financial support for filmmakers in the UAE and new generation of new short films made by independent filmmakers in the - Streaming companies funding regional films and TV shows - Omar El Zohairy and his latest film Feathers Relevant links: https://grasshopperfilm.com/film/feathers/ https://www.theculturist.com/home/2022/5/19/cinemas-2022-the-alternative-film-festival-at-manarat-al-saadiyat https://imagenationabudhabi.com/afs/ https://www.netflix.com/ae-en/title/81312532 (Cooking with Paris) https://www.hbo.com/irma-vep Image: Still from Feathers

Hind Mezaina and Wael Hattar sit together after a podcast hiatus, to catch up on the state of art and culture across the UAE and beyond. They talk about life during (and post?) pandemic, art fairs, the accessibility of art, grassroots collectives that are co-opted by art fairs/commercial galleries, how the art scene in the UAE has not matured enough, the obsession with young artists, finding joy in art and more. Links to some of the things mentioned in the discussion: https://www.akaretler.com.tr/Artweeks https://www.theculturist.com/home/exhibition-wael-hattar-sold-out-at-rotanda-gallery.html https://tashkeel.org/exhibitions/wonder-land https://maraya.ae/exhibitions/view/towards-time/121 https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visa-and-emirates-id/dubai-cultural-visa https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/admissions/graduate/mfa-art-and-media.html Image from Towards Time. Works by Zara Mahmood at Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah

Architect and writer Todd Reisz joins Hind Mezaina for a discussion about his book Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai and his exhibition Off Centre / On Stage that is accompanied by a book with the same title at Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai. You can find Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai on https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29960 and most other online bookshops. Information about Off Centre / On Stage exhibition at Jameel Arts Centre can be found on https://jameelartscentre.org/whats-on/off-centre-on-stage/. The exhibition is on until March 21, 2022. The book Off Centre / On Stage was designed and published by Khatt Books and available to order online on https://www.khattbooks.com/shop/off-center-on-stage/ If you are in Dubai, you can find both books at Jameel Arts Centre and also online at https://shop.artjameel.org, plus Kinokinuya and Gulf Photo Plus. Todd Reisz is an architect and writer living in Amsterdam. His work examines the global practice of architecture, specifically how the architect circulates technologies and cultural narratives. In addition to the two books about Dubai, he also co-edited Building Sharjah (https://www.ribabooks.com/building-sharjah_9783035622768#), an archival investigation of Sharjah's vanishing twentieth-century landscape and includes a selection of essays and images from several contributors. You can find more of Todd's writings and subscribe to his newsletter on http://www.toddreisz.com and follow him on https://twitter.com/ToddReisz.

Film critic A.S. Harmah joins Hind Mezaina for a conversation about his book The Earth Dies Streaming. A.S. Hamrah is a writer living in Brooklyn. He contributed a column on film to n+1 from 2008 to 2019, and his essays and reviews have appeared in Harper’s, Bookforum, Cineaste, and other publications. His first book, The Earth Dies Streaming: Film Writing, 2002–2018, was published by n+1 Books in 2018. Episode Notes: The first half of the discussion is about the state of film criticism, the current the debate about streaming, their impact on movie theatres, and film studios as hyper capitalist entities. From the 42nd minute onwards the discussion is focused on the book, including the following chapters and filmmakers: - Alien Land - The Grapes of Wrath - Jessica Biel's Hand - Chantal Akerman - Stanley Kubrick Other films/filmmakers/topics mentioned / discussed in this episode include: Outbreak, Contagion, Nomadland (Chloe Zhao), Hillbilly Elegy (Ron Howard), The Irishman (Martin Scorsese), Il Cinema Ritrovato and the roles of film festivals in general (especially during the pandemic), Links discussed in this episode: 2021 Will Launch the Platinum Age of Piracy www.wired.com/preview/story/5fd2…56e34070c4339bc27c Oedipal Multiplex https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/oedipal-multiplex-1.602016 Links related to the book: Book intro, Remember Me On This Computer nplusonemag.com/online-only/onlin…on-this-computer/ n+1 Bookstore shop.nplusonemag.com/products/the-e…-by-a-s-hamrah Where to find A S Hamrah: thebaffler.com/authors/a-s-hamrah twitter.com/hamrahrama www.instagram.com/hamrahrama

In this episode Wael Hattar interviews Alia Fattouh from Athr Gallery, one of the leading galleries in Saudi Arabia, where they discuss the 11 years since it's establishment, covering the beginnings of Athr gallery in parallel with the development of the art scene in the region. With the recent cultural expansion in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, Athr had to shift and develop with that, and the conversation went into the interaction with a young generation, how Athr are growing their new artists and the scene, and getting into new projects now that the Saudi Art Council has been set up, and starting up their own residency program and micro grants. You can find out more through their links as mentioned in the interview https://www.athrart.com/ www.maaneditions.com/ www.thesaudiartcouncil.org/ instagram.com/athrart/ twitter.com/athrart facebook.com/AthrArtGallery

Hind Mezaina invited Maryam Wissam Dabbagh for a conversation about her project currently on exhibit at Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, part of its ongoing Library Circles series. The commissioned project reflects on the conversations around belonging and revisiting relationships with our cities, topics  many of us around the world have been thinking about since the pandemic started and apt themes themes to discuss for our 100th episode. About the Library Circles commissioned project: Library Circles feature research, talks and experimental interventions by UAE practitioners in the Jameel Library and Jameel Arts Centre. The programme explores alternative research methodologies and representations with a focus on ‘thinking in public’. For the fall iteration of Library Circles, Jameel Library presents an audio piece by writer and researcher Maryam Wissam Al Dabbagh. The commissioned work reflects on the conversations around belonging; revisiting relationships with our cities through bureaucracy, administration and the long-prophesied age of retirement. Through personal narratives, Al Dabbagh examines complex round histories that continue to reimagine their beginnings and abruptly ending. Accompanying the audio piece is a text installation. Meant for slow reading and chance encounters, the writing starts from the library and grows outwards across various spaces throughout the Jameel Arts Centre. About Maryam Wissam Al Dabbagh: Born and raised in the UAE, Maryam Wissam Al Dabbagh is an Iraqi writer, researcher, and cultural communications consultant. She received a BA in Journalism, from the American University of Sharjah, and an MA in Global Media and Post-National Communications from SOAS, London. Her research is focused on the Arab Diaspora in the Gulf, and exile, especially through the lens of belonging and return. Library Circles: Maryam Wissam Al Dabbagh is on until 31 December 2020. https://jameelartscentre.org/whats-on/library-circles-maryam-al-dabbagh/

This episode was recorded on 22nd March 2020, a few weeks into the significant changes felt all around the world caused by the Coronavirus. Tea with Culture's Hind Mezaina was invited by Warehouse 421, an arts and design centre based in Abu Dhabi that hosts exhibitions and public programmes, to moderate a discussion for their new podcast "Warehouse 421 Conversations". You can listen to the discussion here, and thank you to Warehouse 421 for letting us share this episode with you, our listeners. Since March 14th, museums and cultural spaces across the UAE closed their doors for health and safety reasons due to the Coronavirus. It’s been a tough few weeks for all since that announcement and Warehouse 421 invited Tea with Culture to moderate a discussion about the impact of the current interruptions in the local art ecosystem and the various ways that livelihood in the arts can continue during times of disruption. Hind Mezaina was joined by artist and educator Zahra Jewanjee, Umer Butt, director of Grey Noise Gallery, and Kevin Jones, arts writer and consultant and founder of Juniper Mind to have this conversation. https://www.warehouse421.ae/en/ http://www.zjewanjee.com https://www.greynoise.org http://junipermind.com

Hind Mezaina sits with Faisal Salah, social media journalist at The National (https://twitter.com/EyesWOutAFais) and comic book artist Mohamed "Momo" Sheibani (https://twitter.com/momoarchive) to discuss Ali F Mostafa's film City of Life ten years after its premier at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2009. The discussion includes their thoughts about the film, the representation of Dubai in the film, the films and commercials made by Ali F Mostafa after City of Life and a look at other UAE films released during the past decade, the impact of the cancellation of Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival, and the challenges of developing and maintaining a film industry in the UAE. Other UAE films discussed in this episode: From A to B (Ali F Mostafa, 2014) The Worthy (Ali F Mostafa, 2016) Sea Shadow (Nawaf Janahi, 2011) A Fallible Girl (Conrad Clark, 2013) Djinn (Tobe Hooper, 2013) Zinzana (Majid Al Ansari, 2015) Hajwala: The Missing Engine (Ali Bin Matar, Ibrahim Bin Mohamed, 2016) Aerials (S.A. Zaidi, 2016) Only Men Go to the Grave (Abdulla Al Kaabi, 2016) Musk (Humaid Al-Suwaidi, 2018) You can rent/buy City of Life before on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ae/movie/city-of-life/id1093942053 You can read Hind Mezaina's review of City of Life here: https://www.theculturist.com/home/review-city-of-life-by-ali-f-mostafa.html You can read Hind Mezaina's interview with Abdulla Al Kaabi about Only Men Go to the Grave here: https://www.theculturist.com/home/interview-with-abdulla-al-kaabi-director-of-only-men-go-to-t.html