Jean Nouvel unveils his plans for the National Museum of Qatar

French architect Jean Nouvel has unveiled his design for the new National Museum of Qatar.

Embodying the pride and traditions of Qatar’s people while offering international visitors a dialogue about rapid change and modernization, the National Museum of Qatar will be the setting for a program in which entire walls become cinematic displays, “sonorous cocoons”, shelter oral-history presentations and hand-held mobile devices guide visitors through thematic displays of the collection’s treasures. Though built around an historic structure, the Fariq Al Salatah Palace, which had served as a museum of heritage since 1975, the National Museum of Qatar is conceived and designed as a thoroughly new institution, in keeping with the high aspirations that animate QMA.

The unstoppable architect has also been selected by the Serpentine Gallery in London to design the next summer pavilion. Let's hope these projects will actually get off of the ground.
Fascinating and beautiful...

More info on : http://www.jeannouvel.com/

Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde at Tate Modern, London

Van Doesburg, who worked in disciplines within art, design and text, founded the far-reaching movement and magazine De Stijl is celebrated in a beautiful exhibition at Tate Modern in London, which will last until 16th May.

This artistic movement of painters, architects and designers sought to build a new society in the aftermath of World War I, advocating an international style of art and design based on a strict geometry of horizontals and verticals.

Van Doesburg travelled extensively in Europe in the 1920s making connections and collaborating with avant-garde contemporaries of the time. This exhibition explores Doesburg's role as promoter of Dutch Neoplasticism, his Dada personality, his efforts to influence the Bauhaus, his links with international Constructivists, and his creation of the group Art Concret.

Including over 350 works (many unseen in the UK before) by key artists as Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi, László Moholy-Nagy, Piet Mondrian, Francis Picabia, Gerrit Rietveld, Kurt Schwitters and Sophie Taeuber, the exhibition features van Doesburg's rarely-seen Counter-Composition paintings and designs for the Café Aubette in Strasbourg, furniture such as Rietveld's iconic Red-Blue chair, as well as typography, magazines, stained glass, film, music, sculpture and more.

Curated by Gladys Fabre, Independent Curator and Vicente Todolí, Director Tate Modern.


More info on: http://www.tate.org.uk/

Joris Laarman is an amazing designer

More info on: http://www.jorislaarman.com/

Viktor and Rolf reinvent the white shirt

White Blossom, White Dove, White Nights, White Scent, White Tuxedo are the poetic names of the new Viktor&Rolf's white shirts by the cutting-edge designers.

Scheduled for the Autum/Winter 2010-2011 season, Viktor & Rolf have reinterpreted the eternal classic white shirt. The five-piece capsule collection, made from crisp poplin, is based in menswear trends but adorned with super-feminine details: bows, draping, and ruffles in satin and georgette silk. The capsule collection promises to make a big splash since the pieces are beautiful and I love the way Viktor&Rolf mix masculine and feminine's codes.

More info on: http://www.viktor-rolf.com/

Lee Alexander McQueen's ashes will be scattered in Scotland

The ashes of Lee Alexander McQueen are to be scattered on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, where his father, Ronald, was born, in the next few weeks. “He made it clear his wish was for his ashes to be scattered on Skye, where our family comes from originally, and we are going to honour that,” said McQueen’s brother Michael. “He had been there quite a few times over the years and felt a real connection to the place. Alexander was back and forward all over the world, but he felt at home when he was in Scotland. He was so proud he could trace our family back to Skye and he wanted to return to the family home."

Because it's a beautiful song...PJ Harvey "We float"

Art Dubai 2010 sees robust sales and broad community engagement

I am back from Art Dubai 2010, the art fair of the Middle East and it was absolutely fantastic ! The fair welcomed nearly 18,000 international and regional visitors during the four-day event, up nearly 30% on visitor numbers in the previous year.

Over 70 galleries from 30 countries took part in Art Dubai 2010. The majority experienced strong sales, with buyers including members of the royal family, major international and regional museums and established and new collectors from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the US.

A number of participating galleries, including Athr Gallery from Jeddah, Galerie Christian Hosp and Caprice Horn, both from Berlin, traffic from Dubai and Priska C. Juschka from New York sold nearly all of their available works at the fair which is an excellent sign of the recovery of Dubai.

“In its fourth year, Art Dubai has matured into a highly regarded art event on the world stage shown by the diversity of the work, the significant increase in attendance, strong sales from institutional and private buyers and the greater involvement of Dubai’s art community during the week of the fair,” said John Martin, co-founder of Art Dubai. I definitely think that John is right. I've witnessed this evolution and I am impressed by how professional, how well organised and matured it is.

“I think Art Dubai is a great barometer for where the Middle Eastern art market is heading,” said Hisham Samawi from Ayyam Gallery (Damascus, Dubai). “People seem ready to buy and build their collections, and that has us excited about the rest of the year.”

One of the most impressive pieces was this artwork by El Anatsui, In the World But Don't Know the World, by October gallery which attracted a lot of attention and I would have loved to buy it.

The programme of collateral events was stunning too, with the Global Art Forum, the series of conferences and talks of the underground car park cleverly turned into an "art park" and of course the unveiling of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize, which I will be writing more on in the near future.

More info on: http://www.artdubai.ae/