The Tanweer Festival's founder and visionary, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, opened the exhibition "Prototypes for Permanence: Tanweer Festival Art Commissions Off-Site" at Design Space in 1971.
Held in the run-up to the much-anticipated Tanweer Festival, the show provides an imaginative investigation of expression, creativity, and connection. The exhibition, which officially opened Thursday and runs through April 3, 2025, offers an immersive journey into the conception, development, and realization of thought-provoking large-scale artworks made to withstand the breathtaking and untamed landscape of the Mleiha Desert. It reveals the complex creative processes behind the ten art installations that will be on display at the festival.
Over the course of the five-month exhibition, "Prototypes for Permanence," which highlights the prolific works of ten well-known artists, expands the conversation on creativity, resiliency, and human connection beyond the artworks themselves with a comprehensive program of curator-led tours, artist talks, workshops, and social events.
"Prototypes for Permanence" is an idea that goes beyond the conventional confines of an art show. The exhibition presents every step of the creative process through a carefully chosen display of intricate drawings, conceptual models, material experiments, and in-depth interviews with artists. It is a personal depiction of how these pieces come to life, evoking the phrase "the way appeared" from the poet Rumi of the 12th century.
