Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Programme to host international artists, curators and scholars

Notes and media contacts

For reservations, please call +971 2 6908206 or visit the exhibition to reserve a place.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Series: Calendar of Events

* Schedule is subject to change. Please confirm with press office.

- Saturday, 7 March; 6:30 pm

THE GUGGENHEIM ABU DHABI: THE GEHRY DESIGN, CURRENT PLANS AND A NEW MODEL FOR THE ART MUSEUM

A presentation by Tourism Development & Investment Company and Thomas Krens, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's Senior Advisor for International Affairs, followed by a discussion with:
• Prof. Mark Taylor, Chairman, Department of Religion, Columbia University (New York)
• Christine Tohme, Director, The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts (Beirut)

ANSELM KIEFER: NEW WORK, BARJAC, A DISCUSSION

A presentation by artist Anselm Kiefer, followed by a discussion with:
• Sir Norman Rosenthal, former Director, Royal Academy of Arts (London)
• Germano Celant, Artistic Director, Prada Foundation (Milan)

Anselm Kiefer is a German painter and sculptor whose work is often linked with a style called "New Symbolism." In 1990 he was awarded a Wolf Prize, in 1999 the Praemium Imperiale for his lifetime achievements was presented to him by the Japan Art Association, and in 2008 he was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

- Sunday, 8 March; 6:30 pm

RECENT WORK: JEFF KOONS

A presentation by artist Jeff Koons, followed by a discussion with:
• Sir Norman Rosenthal, former Director, Royal Academy of Arts (London)
• Thomas Krens, Senior Advisor for International Affairs, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (New York)
• Prof. Mark Taylor, Chairman, Department of Religion, Columbia University (New York)

Jeff Koons blends the concerns and methods of pop, conceptual, and appropriation art with craft-making and popular culture to create his own unique iconography. His art explores sex and desire; race and gender; and celebrity, media, commerce, and fame. Koons has exhibited extensively around the world from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Walker Art Center; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Francisco; the Stedelijk Museum; the Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art; and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

RECENT WORK: ANISH KAPOOR

A presentation artist Anish Kapoor, followed by a discussion with:
• Sir Norman Rosenthal, former Director, Royal Academy of Arts (London)
• Germano Celant, Artistic Director, Prada Foundation (Milan)

Anish Kapoor is known for his investigation of physical space and scale as well as for his highly evocative use of materials and colour. Kapoor's work is featured in international public and private collections, notably those of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Tate Collection, London; the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. He has received numerous awards, notably the "Premio Duemila" at the Venice Biennale (1990 and 1992) and the Turner Prize (1991).

- Monday, 9 March; 6:30 pm

Recent Work and Contemporary Art in Tehran

A presentation by artist Rokni Haerizadeh, followed by a discussion with:
• Jack Persekian, Al Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art (Jerusalem)

• Germano Celant, Artistic Director, Prada Foundation (Milan)

Rokni Haerizadeh is an Iranian painter whose politically playful work is largely an expression of the lasting discontent amongst Iranians. In 2003, Haerizadeh was awarded second prize at the Tehran painting biennale.

Recent Work: Mona Hatoum

A presentation by artist Mona Hatoum, followed by a discussion with:
• Jack Persekian, Al Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art (Jerusalem)
• Sir Norman Rosenthal, former Director, Royal Academy of Arts (London)
• Christine Tohme, Director, The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts (Beirut)

Mona Hatoum's poetic and political oeuvre is realised in a diverse and often unconventional range of media, including installations, sculpture, video, photography and works on paper.
Her work engages the viewer in conflicting emotions of desire and revulsion, fear and fascination. She has participated in numerous important group exhibitions including The Turner Prize (1995), Venice Biennale (1995 and 2005) and Biennale of Sydney (2006).

- Wednesday, 18 March; 6:30 pm

Roden Crater
A presentation by artist James Turrell on the artist's earthwork installation in Flagstaff, Arizona (USA), followed by a discussion with:
• Joe Thompson, Director, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Massachusetts, USA)
• Carmen Gimenez, Senior Curator of Twentieth Century Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York)
• Thomas Krens, Senior Advisor for International Affairs, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (New York)

James Turrell's work involves explorations in light and space that speak to viewers without words, impacting the eye, body, and mind with the force of a spiritual awakening. He has been transforming Roden Crater, an extinct volcano, into a celestial observatory for the past thirty years. His ethereal installations enlist the common properties of light to communicate feelings of transcendence and the divine. Turrell is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships.

Recent Work: Cai Guo Qiang

A presentation by artist Cai Guo Qiang, followed by a discussion with:
• Fan Di'an, Director, National Art Museum of China (Beijing)
• Alexandra Munroe, Senior Curator for Asian Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York)
• Dennis Hopper, Artist and Actor (USA)
• Joe Thompson, Director, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Massachusetts, USA)

Cai Guo Qiang is an acclaimed Chinese-born artist known for his elaborate sculpture installations and gunpowder projects. Recent projects and exhibitions include serving as Director of Visual and Special Effects for the Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, a recent retrospective of his work at The Guggenheim Museum, New York and curating the first China Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale. He is the recipient of several awards including the Golden Lion at the 48th Venice Biennale, the CalArts/Alpert Award in the Arts and the 7th Hiroshima Art Prize.

For further information please contact:

Zaina Tahboub
TBWA\RAAD\PR
Tel: +971 4 425 89 79
Fax: +971 4 426 73 34