During the trip Marilyn Sonneveld, one of the participants, made drawings during the many busrides we had. Below a few of them can be seen!
On behalf of the Mondriaan Fund, the Danish Arts Foundation, Frame Finland and Pro Helvetia, we would like to thank all the institutions and people we visited/met during this orientation trip. You all really made this trip into a unique experience for us all. We surely hope that this trip will lead to future collaborations on both sides.
Day 11: Last day of the orientation trip
The last day started as a sightseeing day. We went early in the morning to the historic city of Lahore to see first the fort and its palaces. The outer walls where under restoration where the plaster that the British applied after concurring the city in the 19th century.
In the morning we visited the Imran Qureshi’s studio situated in an area, apparently, out of the city. Surrounded by craftsman’s workshops, his studio has two floors. The first one is dedicated to the work of painting.
This morning’s first stop was a studio visit to the internationally acclaimed artists Rashid Rana and Aroosa Rana.
Tuesday was a travel day again. After having presentations by our own in the morning in the infamous 007 restaurant of the hotel, we left like James Bonds, satisfied by what we had accomplished, or better experienced, in Karachi.
With sunlight shimmering across the water, the view of the waterway on the rear of the hotel is a thing of beauty. The brochures are by no means photoshop exaggerations and in the brutal heat of Karachi, a refreshing dip may be a tempting prospect.
Day 6: Second day of the Karachi Biennale
After the official opening last night, it was time to visit the different exhibition locations of the biennale. The biennale has seven locations, which is five less than the previous edition, yet without a guide (in our case we even had a police escort) it may not be an easy task to visit them all.
Day 5: Gallerie visits and the opening of the Karachi Biennale
After a long and joyful evening hosted by the charismatic Pakistan artist Amin Gulgee, we woke later than usual leaving the hotel in four Uber cars around 11 a.m.
Day 4: Rounding Up The Emirates
On the fourth day, the group met at 11.00 am in the living room of the hotel for 1 hour of brief presentations of some of the participants of the trip.
The day started with eggs, beans, labneh, and coffee. We had already been anticipating our next stop at the house and studio of artist trio, Robin, Ramin Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian. The curator at the NYU had praised their work and claimed it would be the meeting of a century. Expectations high.
Our second day in the United Arab Emirates took our group to Sharjah, with an intensive programme of art or educational institutes and museums. If yesterday’s trip to Abu Dahbi may be summarized as old art in new buildings, then this day was all about new art in old.
Day 1 From the Louvre Abu Dhabi to emerging young artists
The first day of the orientation trip was immediately a packed program. After a late arrival in Dubai the evening before, the bus picked us up in the morning for a two hour drive Abu Dabi.
The 2019 Mondriaan Fund orientation trip to the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan
The last weeks of oktober a group of art professionals from Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands and Zwitserland will visit the UAE and Pakistan.