Distant Prospects
15 to 19c European Landscape Painting from the Princely Collections of Liechtenstein
A central feature of the 2019 Abu Dhabi Festival, the exhibition Distant Prospects presented over seventy works from the Princely Collections of Liechtenstein at Manarat Al Saadiyat on Saadiyat island in Abu Dhabi. The exhibition included key figures from Late Renaissance and Baroque movements, including works by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Joos de Momper, Jan Brueghel the Younger and Peter Paul Rubens. Working as the Senior Manager of Visual Arts for the non-profit Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF), I managed all aspects of the exhibition from planning and production to curating the public programme.
Artist Residency
I was thrilled to plan and execute a robust educational programme in parallel to the exhibition which included an artist residency, reinforcing the organization's vision to nurture and develop the artistic careers of locally based artists.
Five Emirati artists were flown to to Vaduz, Liechtenstein followed by Vienna, Austria to visit the Princely Collections as well as multiple arts and culture institutions. The participating artists included Maitha Abdalla, Taqwa Al Naqbi, Asma Khoory, Hamdan Buti Al Shamsi and mentor Aisha Juma.
Artist Residency | Documentation
I arranged for the commissioning of a short video documenting the journey of the artists, which was created for ADMAF by Anne Preussel, a talented videographer based in Berlin. The video follows the artists from the snow-covered mountains of Vaduz, to the MUMOK, the Albertina, and a host of other inspiring arts and culture venues in Vienna. The artists were in good hands, led by artist and mentor Aisha Juma, who had participated previously in an international residency at CERN.
Panel Discussion
I also developed a panel discussion held inside the exhibition which explored The Princely Collections, the Dutch Golden Age - on show at the Louvre Abu Dhabi at the time - and the influence of Islam on 19th century painting in Europe.
The panel began with a key note address by Manuel Rabaté, Director of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Moderated by Anna Seaman, the conversation included Dr Johann Kräftner, Director of The Princely Collections, Dr Rocio Coletes-Laspra of Spain’s Ministry of Culture, and Rose-Marie Mousseaux, Chief Curator for early modern art at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Dr. Coletes-Laspra specialised in 19th century Spanish painting and the influence of Islam, providing fascinating insight regarding connections between the Middle East and Europe at a high point in artistic production in Europe.
Exhibition and Catalogue Production
I collaborated with Dr Johann Kräftner, who curated the selection of works and narrated the 300+ page catalogue, as well as Michael Schweller, the registrar and exhibition manager at the Princely Collections to produce the exhibition and catalogue, which included Arabic translations. The exhibition was designed within a 1700 sq m space inside Manarat Al Saadiyat, a venue owned and operated by the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, and featured 74 works in total within nine different conceptualised chapters. I co-ordinated with the contractors for the exhibition build, the lighting designer who flew in from abroad, and the in house team at Manarat Al Saadiyat to bring all physical aspects of the exhibition to life.
Educational public programmes
In addition to the artist residency and panel discussion, we planned and hosted a number of educational programmes throughout the duration of the exhibition, which included drawing and painting workshops inspired by the collection.
