Opened by HH Sheikh Mayed artistic expression takes the driver's seat at DIFC's 'Season of Arts' debut

The 16-day event, which coincides with Art Dubai 2008, will garner a selection of diverse up-and-coming and renowned Middle Eastern and Western artists, filmmakers, musicians, and dancers from around the world who are set to offer an unperturbed experience of their craft.

The eclectic line-up of events include contemporary art exhibitions, large-scale, interactive installations, film screenings, live musical performances and classic and modern dance.

"Season of Arts initiative is aimed at altering art's austerity, while still offering an aesthetically interesting, thought-provoking, and even more importantly, accessible and entertaining line-up of events," said Marwan Bin Bayat, DIFC's director of art and culture.

"Season of Arts highlights our commitment to the integration of art and culture into the DIFC's dynamic business environment. Hosting this event further complements DIFC's Lifestyle aspiration to enrich Dubai's cultural offerings, and as we anticipate a number of Seasons of Arts going forward, we call on the region's creative community to use DIFC as a venue for their future artwork," he added.

DIFC hosts a series of on-going exhibitions that run independently throughout the year. Season of Arts' events will be showcased during the official 16-day period, but a selection will run beyond those dates.

The events schedule includes:

• February 7- April 30: World Into Art- An exhibition of artists of the modern Middle East, presented by the British Museum
• March 11-27: The Flying House art exhibition of the works of contemporary UAE artists
• March11-May 1: Collected Vision- An exhibition of modern and contemporary works from the JP Morgan Chase Art Collection
• March 14: Two film screenings:
1- "Summer Birds" by Abdulla Ahmed
2- "The Water Guard" by Waleed Al Shihhe

• March 15: Two film screenings:
1- "Al Ghobna" by Saeed Al Salmeen
2- "A Fictional Story: Woman and Boy" by Khalid Mahmoud

• March 17-27: Agal Sequence - An art installation piece by Patricia Millns
• March 17-27: Kan Yamakan (Once Upon a Time in the Wild East) - An art installation piece of photographs by emerging and establish Middle eastern photographers, presented by The Empty Quarter
• March 17-June 16: Ant Colony- A large-scale, interactive art installation of ant sculptures cast in bronze presented by CUADRO Art Gallery
• March 18-22: The first public art installation project in the Middle East by internationally-renowned conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner
• March 24: Ornina Arabic Culture Dance - A performance by the Ornina Dance Band featuring a mixture of classic, contemporary and Middle Eastern dance routines
• March 26: A live performance by the Dubai Orchestra

Season of Arts timings:

• Exhibitions will be open to the public from 9:00am-9:00pm, except for The British Museum's World Into Art, which will be open from 12:00pm-9:00pm

• Film screenings will be held from 7:00pm-8:30pm.

• Art installations will be open to the public throughout the Season of Arts, except for "Kan Yamakan" which will be open to the public on day 1 from 4:00pm-9:00pm, and every other day from 9:00am-9:00pm.

• Dance performances will be held from 7:00pm-7:30pm; encore performance from 8:00pm-8:30pm.

• Music performance will be held from 7:00pm-7:30pm.