Sikka is back! Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) announced the programme for the 10th edition of Sikka Art and Design Festival.
Organised under the theme ‘Celebrating Art, Celebrating Growth’, the Festival will feature events and activities at its hub of Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood from 15 to 24 March 2022.
Sikka Art Fair’s new platform
The 10th edition of the event is being held under its new umbrella, the Sikka Art and Design Platform and features a new visual identity inspired by the sidr tree at the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
For the first time, Sikka will have its own house at the Festival dedicated to introducing visitors to the idea behind converting Sikka ‘the festival’ to Sikka ‘the platform’.
As part of its new direction, the festival aims to create an eco-system that supports emerging creatives and provides a platform to nurture their talents. The artworks featured this year were chosen to create a narrative about the festival’s decade long journey.
Fostering creativity
In a statement released by Dubai Media Office, Hala Badri, Director General of Dubai Culture spoke about the aim of the festival and utilising the platform to foster creativity.
“Through the Sikka Art and Design Festival, we seek to provide local and regional artists with unique opportunities to present their artworks to a large local and international audience in Dubai, under the supervision of experts.
“This reflects our mission to engage, inspire and encourage promising talent to achieve success, which in turn will further enhance Dubai’s position as a global centre for culture, an incubator for creativity, a thriving hub for talent and the global capital of the creative economy.”
Badri also shared a preview of what’s coming up on the festival programme for 2022 and how it helped create a new visual identity for Sikka.
“This year, we celebrate the Festival’s growth over the last decade and the new generation of talented artists who embarked on their professional careers from a Sikka platform,” he said.
“To highlight the creative vibrancy of one of Dubai’s oldest neighbourhoods, three artists, Shereen Shalhoub from Jordan, Evgenia Silvina from Russia and Paola Lopez from Mexico, were commissioned to create an artwork titled ‘Sikka Sidr Tree Art installations’ using existing sidr trees in Al Fahidi.”
Outlining the programme
Three homes in the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood will be used to present artworks by emerging Emirati and UAE-based artists.
The 10-day festival will also feature an exhibition titled ‘NFT Space‘, curated by Giuseppe Moscatello.
Installations include the interactive ‘Design and New Media House’ by artist Jack B. Du and pieces by Karim Tamerji and Emirati artists Sarah Ahli, Omar Al Gurg and more.
Award-winning Emirati artist Sumayyah Al Suwaidi will curate ‘A Khaleeji House’ by the Khaleeji Art Museum, which showcases the works of five artists from GCC.
Visitors can also attend workshops on visual arts, design and new media curated by Art Dubai, in addition, to enjoying live music and authentic home-grown food concepts.
The festival will be open to visitors daily from 6pm to 11pm on weekdays, 2pm to 12am on Saturdays, and 12pm to 11pm on Sundays.
Dubai Art Season
The Sikka Art and Design Festival is a flagship event of Dubai Art Season (DAS), which see the emirate taken over by art events during February and March.
Highlights include Art Dubai and Alserkal Arts Festival, which you can find out more about here and here.
