May 6–8, 2015
Commissioned by Alserkal Avenue and curated by Anabelle de Gersigny, the Safina Radio Project is an itinerant space, a boat transformed into a recording studio navigating the Venetian waterways and transporting passengers from one place to another whilst serving as a platform for exploration and exchange.
The project creates transitory and transient communities with each journey, bringing focus to collective experience and targeting an investigation into how we locate ourselves and how we mediate our human and historic commonality.
A broad spectrum of artists, writers and curators, whose practices draw from a variety of contexts, will participate in Venice through conversations and happenings on the boat, including: Raqs Media Collective, comprised of media practitioners Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta from New Delhi; British artist, writer and film director John Akomfrah withwriter Coline Milliard; artists Mohammed Kazem and Cristiana de Marchi; artist Rabab Ghazoul in conversation with her father; artists Haig Aivazian, Rene Gabri, Ayreen Anastas, Hrair Sarkissian and filmmakers Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi with curator Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg; collaborative artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige; artists Wafaa Bilal and Sara Raza;andperformance artist Alex Baczynski Jenkins with curators Louise O’Kelly (Block University), Ben Roberts (Modern Art Oxford), Rose Lejeune and Fatos Ustek. An audio recording of each live event will be uploaded to the website safinaradioproject.org within 24 hours of it taking place, opening up experiences and events in Venice to a wider audience.
The online portal includes the full program in Venice from May 6 to 8, presented alongside a range of content commissioned only for the site itself, from written interviews to audio projects, playlists and sets. Contributors of online-specific content include: British artist Scanner (Robin Rimbaud) whose work experiments with sound, space, image and form; Emirati conceptual artist and writer Hassan Sharif; Wael Hattar in conversation with artist Sadik Kwaish Alfraji; Rahel Aima and Ahmad Makia from The State; artists Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Karim Sultan; music contributions from UAE based Analog Room and Kamal Rasool (Flamingods); and MENASA music specialist Neil van der Linden.
The Safina Radio Project builds on Alserkal Avenue’s expanding homegrown programme which aims to support performance, social practice and public-forms of art, by providing a unifying public forum amidst the Venice Biennale to engage with questions and concerns important to the region. The project is realised through the kind support of Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Founder of Alserkal Avenue.
To reserve your seat on the boat, please contact luay [at] alserkalavenue.ae.Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Directions will be provided upon reservation.
Programme schedule:
6 May
10h: Navy Officer’s Club, Arsenale (My Art Guides: Venice Meeting Point)—Raqs Media Collective
12h: Navy Officer’s Club / 12:15h: Piazza San Marco / 12:30h: Punta della Dogana / 12:45h: Giardini **
13h: Navy Officer’s Club—Wafaa Bilal and Sara Raza
15h: Navy Officer’s Club / 15:15h: Piazza San Marco / 15:30h: Punta della Dogana / 15:45h: Giardini **
16h: Navy Officer’s Club—Adelina Cüberyan von Fürstenberg with Haig Aivazian, Ayreen Anastas, Rene Gabri, Yervant Gianikian, Angela Ricci Lucchi and Hrair Sarkissian
7 May
9h: Navy Officer’s Club—John Akomfrah and Coline Milliard
11h: Navy Officer’s Club / 11:15h: Piazza San Marco / 11:30h: Punta della Dogana / 11:45h: Giardini **
12h: Navy Officer’s Club / 12:15h: Piazza San Marco / 12:30h: Punta della Dogana / 12:45h: Giardini **
13h: Rabab Ghazoul and Ramez Ghazoul, (private)
15h: Navy Officer’s Club / 15:15h: Piazza San Marco / 15:30h: Punta della Dogana / 15:45h: Giardini **
16h: Navy Officer’s Club—Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
8 May
9h: Navy Officer’s Club—New Worlds: Migration and Utopia
11h: Navy Officer’s Club / 11:15h: Piazza San Marco / 11:30h: Punta della Dogana / 11:45h: Giardini **
12h: Navy Officer’s Club / 12:15h: Piazza San Marco / 12:30h: Punta della Dogana / 12:45h: Giardini **
13h: Navy Officer’s Club—UAE Focus including Mohammed Kazem, Dr. Alexandra Macgilp and Cristiana de Marchi amongst others
15h: Navy Officer’s Club / 15:15h: Piazza San Marco / 15:30h: Punta della Dogana / 15:45h: Giardini **
16h: Navy Officer’s Club—Louise O’Kelly, Alex Baczynski Jenkins, Ben Roberts, Rose Lejeune and Fatos Ustek
** Hop on/hop off circuits
About Alserkal Avenue
Alserkal Avenue is the region’s foremost arts and culture neighbourhood located in Al Quoz, Dubai. Since it was established in 2007, Alserkal Avenue has grown to become an essential platform for the development of homegrown artistic and cultural initiatives, supporting a vibrant community of contemporary art galleries and alternative art spaces, together with design, media and industrial studios. In 2015 Alserkal Avenue began introducing its own homegrown programme as an arts organization, dedicated to encouraging new ideas, open dialogue and a more diverse and rich eco-system for art in the region.
Non-UAE press enquiries:
Concetta Duncan, Sutton PR
concetta [at] suttonpr.com / T +1 917 971 4664
UAE press enquiries:
Haniya Bhatty, Communications Executive
haniya [at] alserkalavenue.ae / T +97150 558 7776
