The National

Musaffah industrial zone to get ‘Art Hub’

Matt Kwong

Last Updated: August 23. 2009 2:38PM UAE / August 23. 2009 10:38AM GMT

The Basement Gallery is one of several in Dubai’s Al Quoz industrial
area. Lauren Lancaster / The National

ABU DHABI // A creative arts centre in the Musaffah industrial zone is
expected to ease the capital’s shortage of cheap studio space for
emerging artists.
Groundwork has already begun on the 650-square-metre warehouse dubbed
the Art Hub, which is due to open next year and is the brainchild of
Tini Meyer.
An artist of German and Spanish descent who paints and experiments
with conceptual art, Ms Meyer, 26, said the site would accommodate
dozens of musicians, calligraphers, sculptors, jewellers, painters,
designers and more.

It would mirror a similar initiative in the Al Quoz industrial area of
Dubai, in which galleries have sprung up next to factories and in
converted warehouses.
`I want to turn Art Hub into somewhere that artists will be proud to
work,’ Ms Myer said. `We are trying to create a platform for artists.’
A major challenge in the city, she noted, was for artists to find
quality studio space at low rents.

`A studio is a workshop, but it is also a strong selling point,’ she
said. Musaffah is only a 10-minute drive from the bridges off the
island, and `people who want to buy art will make the effort if they
know they are going to find a dozen or so artists all producing their
works on site’.
The Art Hub would include private and `live-work’ studios each
measuring about 80sq m and with kitchenette and bathroom.

A community studio centre would be open downstairs, and would have a
lounge area and cafe.
Art teachers might also be able to rent out space for classes.
`We might have independent movie nights, or jamming sessions where
people can practise and hang out, so that would be free,’ Ms Meyer
added.
A rent structure should be finalised after Ramadan, but one idea is to
charge casual or `hobby artists’ by the day.

`If somebody wants to come and paint for a day, they’d probably have a
few easels at their disposal and then just pay a fee.’
Ahmed al Yafei, the chairman of Osan Properties, is developing the Art
Hub in collaboration with Ms Meyer. When she approached him seeking
help, he originally offered her a small corner of an old Musaffah
paint factory to use as a studio.
`But I always believed in the concept of big ideas – that good ideas
will not work unless it’s massive,’ Mr al Yafei said. `I was building
a project in Musaffah and I thought instead of making it a normal
building, why not convert it into the requirements of the Art Hub?’

He envisages `a franchise’ of Art Hubs sprouting in Saadiyat island
and even in other emirates.
Ms Meyer, who will serve as the centre’s creative director, is
interviewing other artists to assess their needs from the facility.
Linda Stephanian, 28, an Armenian-Iranian sculptress and the manager
of the Ghaf Art Gallery, has been waiting for something like the Art
Hub since her arrival in Abu Dhabi in 2006.

Most of her artist friends, she said, were forced to make room to work
in their homes. Ms Stephanian works with air-hardening clay and
papier-mché in her kitchen and says the restricted space limits the
scale of her creations.
`My works are mostly small because of the space. If I have bigger
space, I’ll go for bigger sculptures.’
Ms Stephanian has looked for space in Musaffah before, but could not
find anything smaller than a whole warehouse.

`I couldn’t find a small space, but if [Art Hub] is affordable, I
would definitely be looking for a studio there,’ she said. `I think it
will be really well accepted here since I know maybe eight or 10
artists here who can’t find affordable studio space to rent.’
Given Abu Dhabi’s ambition to become the cultural capital of the UAE,
such a facility would be `a wonderful move’, said Taha al Hiti, who
runs Al Arjun Art Gallery on Al Najda Street. `Lots of artists will be
benefiting from that project and I’m sure lots of great work will come
from it.’

Mr al Hiti, 38, an Iraqi-born architect and calligrapher, works from
home, but said: `If I was a full-time artist and I lived through my
artwork, I would definitely get a studio there.’