Art Week at Alserkal Avenue | 360 Brand Execution
Art Week at Alserkal Avenue takes place annually during March in conjunction with Art Dubai, with a line-up of world class exhibitions and special programming by the region’s leading contemporary art galleries and non-profit institutions. Each year the Art Week design concept takes it inspiration from Alserkal Arts Foundation’s spring commission which is a highlight of the annual programme. Alserkal Arts Foundation’s public art commissions critically and creatively investigate themes pertinent to the region’s arts community, and support practitioners whose projects are collaborative, participatory, and ephemeral. Previous Art Week design concepts were inspired by works by artists including Mary Ellen Carrol (2016), Mohammed Kazem (2017) and Hale Tenger (2018).
The original design of the Art Week at Alserkal Avenue programme has led it to become a familiar sight each March. A double-facing design allows two distinct yet enmeshed purposes - one side is the Schedule and the other side is the Full Programme. During Art Week at Alserkal Avenue, the design concept is brought to life across every touchpoint, both online and offline, creating a seamless visitor experience and 360 approach.
Photography credit to Angelo. Video Credit to Ibrahim Qasim.
Collateral and Signage Design by Assia Merazi, Maha Basaddiq and Natalia Rodrigues.
All collateral is designed in-house at Alserkal. © Copyright Alserkal.
Collateral and Signage Design by Assia Merazi, Maha Basaddiq and Natalia Rodrigues.
All collateral is designed in-house at Alserkal. © Copyright Alserkal.
Art week at Alserkal Avenue | 2019
For the 2019 Art Week, Athens-based artist collective 3 137 was commissioned by Alserkal Arts Foundation to curate Rhodiola. This programme-based commission borrows its title from the healing rhodiola rosea flower, and came to life across five ‘waves’. Rhodiola challenges ordinary perceptions of domestic life and public affairs, and offers a place for moments of active pause.
The design concept for 2019 was inspired by Rhodiola, and became a visual manifestation of Rhodiola as a conversation piece that emits invisible frequencies from the conversations, performances, screenings, radio shows, and community activities taking place as part of its programme. The Art Week programme drew inspiration from the intervention in the warehouse formerly known as Nadi Al quoz and referenced the distortion and dismantling that took place in the space.
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Art week at Alserkal Avenue | 2018
Art Week 2018’s collateral was inspired by Hale Tenger's commission Under. A public intervention curated by Mari Spirito, Under looked at learned behaviour on intimate and expanded levels. The commission was presented as a freestanding structure made from corrugated metal, mimicking Alserkal Avenue’s existing buildings and placing a tree in the centre that was covered by a net.
The design concept was inspired by a question that the installation asks: “If birds can forget to fly high in the sky, what have we humans forgotten?”. The use of duotone creates the illusion of an obstructed view, mimicking the viewer looking up at the net, and also reflects what may have been forgotten.
The concept was brought to life through signage during Art Week by playing with the ideas of layers and nets, using different materials such as mesh, peg boards, wood, MDF and perforated metal sheets.
Hale Tenger, Under, 2018, mixed media installation. Audio: Serdar Ateşer, Electro/acoustic consultant: Hakan Kurşun (www.pbm.com.tr),
Dubbing artist: Ceren Türkmenoğlu. Commissioned by Alserkal Arts Foundation.
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Art Week at Alserkal Avenue | 2017
The design concept for 2017’s Art Week took its inspiration from the raw aspects of the industrial area of Al Quoz, and the creative concepts that call it home. The artwork used across print and online collateral was a photograph taken by the artist Mohammed Kazem of Jean-Paul Najar Foundation, a private museum located inside Alserkal Avenue. The concept was developed further during the week by using using recycled glass mirrors that were cut in uneven shapes and used as directional and event signage.
Mohammed Kazem, Receiving Light, 2016, Detail.
Image courtesy of the artist and Gallery Isabelle Van den Eynde 
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Art Week at Alserkal Avenue | 2016
Installed during Art Week 2016, The Circle Game is a major new multi-form work by conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll that invites the public to interrogate the history, present and future of Dubai. Two LED signs installed overhead the warehouse of Alserkal Avenue ask, “When did you arrive?” and “When will you return?”. These are familiar questions asked of people who live in Dubai, and they are questions that could also be asked of the city itself. The Art Week programme used the two elements of the commission, with each side of the programme posing a different question.
Mary Ellen Carroll, The Circle Game, 2016.
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