The Meem Gallery Summer Exhibition: A Platform for the Artistic Intellect of AUD Students
The Closing Ceremony of The Summer Exhibition at The Meem Gallery, that took place yesterday, the 15th of September 2008, marks the beginning of artistic showcases for The Department of Visual Communication, at The American University in Dubai, for the current Fall semester.
Coordinated and curated by Roberto Lopardo, AUD’s Chair of the Department of Visual Communication, and Michael Bray, Assistant Professor of Visual Communication at AUD, the exhibition kicked off last June featuring a wonderful range of visual mediums encompassing projects that employ photography and painting. It brought together 10 AUD student artists who displayed their work among students from other universities across the UAE.
On the nature of the creative work exhibited by the students and its contribution to the ever-emerging cultural facet of the Emirate of Dubai, Lopardo commented,” The Meem Gallery Summer Exhibition presents works of art that have honest depth and diversity, and that provide further evidence of the early formations of an artistic 'soul' unique to this complex global city we call home. It is a wonderfully ambitious grass roots project that intends to prove that Dubai has what it needs, here, close to home.”
Bray, in turn, asserted, “There is a widely held misconception that very little attention and
organization has been put into exhibiting and promoting young local talent coming from the art intuitions in Dubai and the outlying areas. The summer exhibition at The Meem Gallery is meant to address this deficiency and create a yearly showcase of young talent that is open to the public."
The student exhibitors were nominated to showcase their work based on the recommendation of the panel of faculty judges brought together from each of the selected participating universities. Public vote was open to attendees to evaluate the deserving young talents of AUD student exhibitors since the commencement of the exhibition, where students who bag the top four commendable works
of art will have their names revealed in the closing ceremony as winners to be granted the opportunity to display their work in the summer exhibition of the upcoming year.
Cima Azzam, an AUD student in her senior year and one of the participating exhibitors, stated, “The Meem Gallery exhibition is a great opportunity for students to see other works of art and a chance to interact with other young talents from different universities across the UAE.” Azzam’s showcased work stems from human emotions. The two sculptures she painted mirror people emerging from walls of human containment in a quest for discovering an exit from their emotional tribulations.
It is worth mentioning that the idea of the summer exhibition is conceptualized and executed with the assistance of Mr. Charles Pocock, the Managing Director of The Meem Gallery.
