New art destination for the Middle East
In a new, larger location to accommodate the growth of its mission as a creative space dedicated to the development of contemporary art and ideas, Middle East art destination Traffic opened this week in Al Quoz.
Created by UAE national collector and art patron Rami Farook, Traffic now offers two gallery spaces – one for exhibitions from emerging talents and a second for carefully-curated highlights from the Farook collection as well as other private and corporate collections. Other aspects of the new Traffic include workshop space for resident artists such as James Clar, recently exhibited by Traffic at Abu Dhabi Art, as well as a retail outlet for arts and design publications and a café.
Traffic has relaunched with two exhibitions, Iranian artist Hesam Rahmanian’s Hit Me with Your War Tune, his inaugural show at the gallery (additional news release available), as well as The State, which includes 16 artists from the Farook Collection, including Sama Alshaibi, Ramin Haerizadeh, and Mona Hatoum.
“Traffic is a place to learn about contemporary art, for emerging artists to experiment, and for our community to discuss and highlight the boundaries and opportunities in how and where we live today – our focus is on stimulating discussion through compelling exhibitions while also fostering a platform for education,” said Rami Farook, Traffic’s founder.
“Our new space enables Traffic to support a new, wider range of artists while also encouraging art patronage – finding new voices in contemporary art while celebrating the best of our collection and others in the region so people always have a place to go and see thought-provoking art,” he added.
Traffic ‘s design flows across a number of spaces: Gallery 1, the non-profit collector?s space that highlights patronage of the arts and different collecting approaches, and Gallery 2, which includes contemporary works from fine art, photography, sculpture, installation, new media and urban art through a focus on emerging artists. Additional spaces at Traffic include Print, a dedicated art bookstore also offering limited edition art prints alongside great coffee, a pop-up education space to facilitate dialogue, and studios for resident artists.
Hit Me With Your War Tune, the inaugural show at Traffic by Hesam Rahmanian - Nov 10, 2010 - Dec 30, 2010
The State, regional and international works from the Farook Collection - Nov 10, 2010 - Jan 22, 2011