Maya Allison of NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery on Why She Loves This City
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Maya Allison is the Founding Director and Chief Curator of the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery. She comes from a curatorial background in academic museums, notably the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. In 2017, her NYUAD exhibition “But We CannoMaya Allison of NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery on Why She Loves This City
Maya Allison is the Founding Director and Chief Curator of the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery. She comes from a curatorial background in academic museums, notably the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. In 2017, her NYUAD exhibition “But We Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988-2008,” surveyed avant-garde artists in the United Arab Emirates.The gallery’s current exhibition, “Ways of Seeing,” brings together 41 multidisciplinary works that encourage viewers to revise preconceived notions about the connection between sight and understanding. It includes a projection by James Turrell, an installation by Fred Sandback, photographs by Lateefa bint Maktoum, as well as works by Salvador Dali, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Mona Hatoum, Alicja Kwade, Shana Moulton, Grayson Perry, Cindy Sherman, and Kim Tschang-Yeul. Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, the exhibition, which previously showed in Istanbul and Brussels, is on view through November 17.Continuing the theme of contrasting what we know with what we think we know, we spoke to Allison about the subtleties of working in a new place and the richly diverse culture that fills the blocks and side streets around the Emirati capital.How long have you been living in Abu Dhabi?Seven years.How has the art scene evolved in the past few years?Very quickly. For many decades, the complex content that artists had been working on was starting to surface, but now there is a wonderful explosion of visibility as more venues open. You oversee the NYUAD Art Gallery, which is currently hosting the exhibition “Ways of Seeing.” In what ways has living in Abu Dhabi changed your ways of seeing — about art or anything else?I like to tell the story of my arrival as a kind of reversal: I had been in China and moved here, and felt I had moved to a “Western” country. It seemed very familiar initially. It took about two years for me to begin to see and appreciate how much I actually didn’t understand initially — particularly the depth of the complexities and subtleties of the UAE as a unique place with many cultural cross-currents at work.Suddenly, I realized I couldn’t curate the same show here as I would when I was at Brown University or the RISD. Art has an urgency here that it did not there. It matters in a way that I rarely see with the average jaded New Yorker. I find it incredibly exciting — and challenging — to curate in dialogue with so many different cultural influences.Do you have a favorite Emirati artist, whom you think more people should know about?A key thing to know, is that there has been an active avant-garde scene here since the early 1980s, anchored by the late Hassan Sharif — a conceptual and performance artist who mentored several generations. I am now working on a historical overview of the various overlapping art communities that evolved in the UAE in that period — in particular a wave of artists who went abroad for visual arts degrees in the late 1970s, and many of those studied in Cairo. Dr. Najat Makki is one of the best-known examples from that circle.What are your “must-see” recommendations for the city?I take every visitor to walk among the interior blocks of downtown Abu Dhabi, particularly in the areas near Qasr Al Hosn. In between the large wide streets are blocks full of small side streets with a lively urban fabric. Each “super block” has a different character, whether driven by cultural clusters — South Asian, Lebanese, Philippine, Khaleeji — or driven by particular restaurants, such as the incredible, informal “drive-through” in front of the Lebanese Flower restaurant in the Khalidiya area. The people-watching and delicious food to be found in these inner blocks is not to be missed.Go see art at the Louvre, but also at Warehouse 421, at Manarat, at the Art House Cafe, and at our local university Art Gallery (which is, actually, a non-collecting museum). Have a gold-dusted cappuccino at the Palace Hotel, but also have a Turkish coffee from a side-street restaurant in one of the downtown blocks.What would be on your agenda, if you had a free morning or afternoon in Abu Dhabi?A leisurely walk on Saadiyat beach. A long stretch reading in the Third Place cafe downtown, or at the Blacksmith’s cafe on our campus (the best locally-roasted coffee around).Which restaurants would you recommend, and what makes them unique?Royal Raj and Sangeetha for their thali meals. Unbelievably delicious. Dai Pai Dong for Chinese dumplings and fancy environs. Nolu’s for the most delicious and unexpected combinations of Afghani and “California” cuisine. Le Beaujolais for old-school international French. That place feels like it’s been here forever, complete with a menu that Julia Child might have designed. And Al Mayass, the Armenian restaurant overlooking the water, in the lovely Sheraton Corniche hotel. It’s where I go for big celebratory dinners.What are the ideal spots to see live music?The Arts Center, also on our campus! It’s programmed by the inimitable Bill Bragin, who relocated here from his role at Lincoln Center. He brings world-class but very cutting edge music and performances from around the globe.Where would you recommend people stay when they visit?Either in the walking district downtown, or you can’t go wrong with any of the lovely fancy hotels.What’s an authentic item you can only buy locally?Karak tea and the Chips Oman sandwich are delicious and considered “local” by many.Do you have a favorite book depicting the region, or an author of any provenance who writes about the region in an especially evocative way?There are a few works of fiction, but none capture the feelings that I get living here and that make me love living here.http://www.blouinartinfo.comFounder: Louise Blouin p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #d81e00} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #232323} span.s1 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none} span.s2 {font-kerning: none} p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Times New Roman'} Read more