The arts and design center is opening its fall program with two exhibitions, bringing artistic narratives to audiences in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi, UAE – 15 September 2019: Warehouse421 has announced its programing for September, presenting workshops, short courses, talks and film screenings for audiences throughout the UAE, which seek to engage the public with diverse creative practices and drive conversations around regional narratives.

Opening on 17 September and running for six weeks will be a short course on Palestinian Embroidery, hosted by the artist Joanna Barakat, and designed to help students learn both the history and cultural context of Palestinian embroidery, called tatreez, and how this art form has evolved over the past sixty years.

Over the course of the weekend of 20 – 21 September, and in partnership with Gulf Photo Plus, Warehouse421 will bring a workshop, titled Photography Level 1. The two day session will help the budding photographer to break free of auto mode, and gain a strong understanding of the solid foundations of photography. The workshop assumes no prior knowledge of photography. Meanwhile, a workshop in September on Printmaking will be held at the center. The session will introduce participants to the world of print making, which is being run by the artists Salama Nasib. The session on 28 September will focus on using lino printmaking, with four further classes on the art of printmaking to follow throughout the fall season.

The center will also hold a short course on Arabic Calligraphy, with one session running over the weekend of 21 to 22 September, and the second from 28 to 29 September. The course will provide a historical overview of calligraphic styles, before proceeding to learn the practice of calligraphy. In addition, a workshop will be held on 22 September, titled Lost and Unfound: Art-making and the Tentative Sculpture. It will focus on making art material from scavenged material, as participants will be encouraged to collect material to create sculpture from, alongside sharing well known art that has been created from upcycled material. A short course on Pattern Making will open on 24 September. This course, which will run twice a week for six weeks, will provide an introduction to pattern making, before proceeding to intermediate and advanced forms of pattern making. The sessions will be held by the New Zealand fashion designer, Engy Mahdy.

For the first time, Warehouse421 will be partnering with the Goethe Institute to screen Beltracchi: the Art of Forgery on 25 September. The film focuses on the life of the post-war German art forger, Wolfgang Beltracchi, and his forgeries which hoodwinked institutions across the art world. The film will run for 90 minutes, and will be screened in German with English and Arabic subtitles. Meanwhile, on Saturday 28 September, Warehouse421 will welcome back the ‘Khayal’ book reading series, where young readers can enjoy the story of Aya and Papaya Find Happiness. The book focuses on the adventures of a little girl, Aya, and her doll, Papaya, who search together for Aya’s happiness after she loses it one morning. The session will also include a chance to make your own ‘happiness jar’. The session will run from 3pm to 5pm.

On the evening of 29 September will the first Reading Session, where participants can unpack and explore readings of iconic texts. The session, which will be led by the curator Munira Al Sayegh, will explore two books: the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, and Oscar Wilde’s ironical musings, Only Dull People are Brilliant at Breakfast. The session will run from 5:30pm onwards, and online booking is required to participate.

Additionally, the fall program at Warehouse421 kicked off yesterday (14 September) with the opening of two exhibitions. First is the Community & Critique: Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship 2018/19 Cohort 6 show, presenting the works of the recent graduates of the renowned fellowship program. The exhibition presents the works of these emerging artists in the UAE. The works will be exhibited until 24 November. The second exhibition is by the emerging visual artist, Maitha Abdalla, titled Hollowed, which explores the feeling of hollowness, and meditates on its emotional transformation into different states. The exhibition will run until 13 October.

For more information on Warehouse421’s September events, please visit: http://www.warehouse421.ae/en/program/