Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal

Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal is an Emirati businessman and founder of Alserkal and Alserkal Avenue.

Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal
Born
Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal

United Arab Emirates
NationalityEmirati
Known forFounder of Alserkal Avenue
AwardsPatron of the Arts award

Early years and education

Abdelmonem was born and raised in United Arab Emirates. His grandfather was involved in setting up Dubai State Telephone Company Limited, UAE´s first telecommunication firm. As a child, Abdelmonem encountered art during his father´s collection of books on Islamic art and Western masterpieces.[1]

After graduating from university in the United States, he began his career in real estate and development in the UAE.[2]

Career

A patron of the arts, he is the founder of Alserkal, and Alserkal Avenue,[3] an arts district housed in a former industrial district in the Al Quoz area of Dubai and in the United Arab Emirates one of the most talked about cultural hubs.[1] He started Alserkal Avenue in 2007 as a warehousing business.[1] Launched in 2008, Alserkal Avenue is home a to mix of art galleries, nonprofit spaces, restaurants, performance venues, and co-working spaces.[4] Abdelmonem initiated an expansion of Alserkal Avenue, which was launched in early 2015. In addition to more gallery space, the expansion added a black box theatre, independent cinema, and outdoor performance venue.[5]

In March 2017 Abdelmonem inaugurated Concrete (Alserkal Avenue), a multipurpose venue and the first building in the UAE to be completed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA).[6] In April 2019, Concrete was shortlisted for the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.[7] Alserkal and the Alserkal family launched Alserkal Arts Foundation[8] in March 2019, which supports multi-disciplinary practices across public art commissions, residencies, research grants[9] and educational programmes.

Featured in Surface magazine's 2016 Power 100 list, Abdelmonem serves on the British Museum's Contemporary and Modern Middle Eastern Art Acquisition Group, the Tate's Middle East and North Africa Acquisition Committee, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's Middle Eastern Circle.[10]

Awards

Abdelmonem and the Alserkal family have been awarded the Patron of the Arts award twice, in 2012 and 2013, by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.[11]

References
  1. Coline Milliard (1 January 2018). "The Man Helping Dubai Pivot from Oil to Art". Artsy. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  2. Boucher, Brian. "Rem Koolhaas Infliltrates Dubai With an Expectation-Defying Art Center" Artnet News, 17 March 2017
  3. "Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal". ITP Media Group. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  4. Seaman, Anna. "Abdelmonem bin Eisa Alserkal on the expansion of Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue" The National, 16 June 2014.
  5. Jones, Kevin. "Abdelmonem Alserkal on the Alserkal Avenue / Dubai" Flash Art, 27 July 2015.
  6. Gibson, Eleanor. "OMA's first project in Dubai is a cultural centre with moving eight-metre-high walls" Dezeen, 16 March 2017.
  7. Gronlund, Melissa (26 April 2019). "Aga Khan Award for Architecture: three UAE sites honoured for first time". The National.
  8. Adam, Georgina (21 March 2019). "Dubai's Alserkal launches arts foundation". The Art Newspaper.
  9. Binlot, Ann (24 March 2019). "The Newly-Announced Alserkal Arts Foundation To Foster Creative Development Through Grants". Forbes.
  10. Editors of Surface. "Power 100" 1 August 2016.
  11. "Alserkal Avenue expansion launches new wave of Art, Fashion and Creative Organisations". Alserkalavenue. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
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