Etihad Modern Art Gallery opened its door yesterday for the annual Ramadan Art Souq 2014, a number of public figures, artists and art enthusiasts attended the event, where also the long awaited surprise was revealed to the guests. The gallery revealed a very well-kept secret: Headline exhibit "Tinker", a 7.5 meter long, authentic junior T-Rex dinosaur skeleton dominated main gallery hall with its impressive presence.
Etihad Modern Art Gallery have taken a habit of always bringing something new and different to the art scene in Abu Dhabi, while focusing on reflecting the cultural benefits and educational aspects each event brings to serve the society through its art messages, starting with the one of a kind Islamic art and rare coins and Quran pages the gallery exhibited last Ramadan, to the initiative Etihad Gallery launched with the UAE Red Crescent where social responsibility incorporated fashion and arts inspired from the UAE culture, and by this agreement 50% of the profit from the UAE Red Crescent’s brand exclusively for Etihad Modern Arts Gallery goes to charity; and lately, the agreement the Gallery signed with the Houston Museum for Natural Science as Their exclusive partner in the UAE.
This year’s Art Souq came with the idea to promote contemporary arts making it handy to the different layers of the city’s residents, while featuring well-known names from the art scene in both the UAE and internationally, covering different aspects of arts.However; this would not have been completed with adding a natural history exhibit to the event according to Khaled Seddiq Al Mutawaa, Founder of Etihad Modern Arts Gallery. He explained, "Most dinosaur skeletons exhibited around the world have only up to 5% of the original bones preserved. T-Rex is the most impressive and popular dinosaur species. So far they have only been found in the USA. All museums outside the US display only plastic casts of the originals. Tinker is the first authentic T-Rex traveling abroad, making her first appearance outside the USA, here in Abu Dhabi.He added “arts is seen in different aspects of life, natural history is a world of arts on its own, there is beauty in putting the pieces together to form a display that is as close as its natural forms in past ages. I want to thank Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority for the continuous support they provide to private initiatives such as ours as we also try to learn and be part of their approach towards promoting culture and heritage; and also to Atlas Group for taking part and sponsoring this event ” Al Mutawaa concluded. The visitors took their time walking through the gallery spaces and discovering different concepts of contemporary art pieces by 16 artists in total, including local, international, well known signatures and fresh talents. The atmosphere of the event was intentionally casual and less formal than standard art exhibitions, allowing the visitor a more intimate and personal art experience as a whole.
Etihad Modern Arts Gallery yet again delivered on their promise about having an affordable art event, keeping the prices of the items in very good affordable levels. With this strategy, the gallery aimed to spread the message that art is for everyone, and received an overwhelmingly positive public response for this move at opening night.
Art Souq 2014 will continue until Thursday July 31st.