(Left to right) Tala Khalil, Tasnim Tinawi, Mohammad Mhaisen, Daniel Rey, Ashay Bhave, Saad Boujane, Aliyah Alawadhi, Arthur de Oliveira and Dina Al Khatib.

The 2020 Youth Takeover takes place October 30 – November 16, 2020 and features curated interventions and public programmes addressing the Assembly’s conceived theme ‘Reassigning Value’. Read more about the Takeover and the Assembly’s manifesto here.

The nine Assembly members curated and commissioned 21 UAE-based young artists and creatives and together present artworks, interventions and events at the Jameel, ranging from illustration, painting, sculpture and photography to sound-design, film and performance, plus a digital programme taking place on Verticals – the Assembly’s bespoke blog.

Spanning January to November 2020, the second Assembly at Jameel Arts Centre continues the realisation of dedicated initiatives related to the interests of its nine members, who are selected through a highly competitive process, following nominations from Art Jameel’s extensive network of industry leaders.

The 2020 Assembly at Jameel Arts Centre is comprised of UAE Nationals and long-term residents (of 8 different nationalities) and spans a breadth of experience and interests and hails from across the UAE.

The 2020 Assembly members are: Aliyah Alawadhi, Arthur de Olivera, Ashay Bhave, Daniel Rey, Dina Al Khatib, Mohammad Mhaisen, Saad Boujane, Tala Yahya Khalil and Tasnim Tinawi.

Members biographies:

Aliyah Alawadhi is an artist and writer. She holds a BFA in Animation Design with a Minor in Curatorial Practices from Zayed University. Raised in Abu Dhabi, she attempts to capture the subtleties of growing up in an ever-developing cultural and industrial landscape; communicated in her work through the themes of nostalgia, gender, mysticism and globalization. Her work has been presented in a number of exhibitions, including Sikka Art Fair and Start’19.

Arthur de Oliveira is a filmmaker, poet, and theater practitioner from Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil. Arthur’s travels and varied cultural exposure has sparked his interest in creating hybrid art pieces relating to globalisation, longingness, and immigration. Arthur is currently a freelancer in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Ashay Bhave is a visual artist of Indian origin, industrial designer and social entrepreneur based in Dubai, UAE. His work was most recently showcased in exhibitions such as the “Conscious Consumption” at Tashkeel and “Do You See Me How I See You” at Maisan15. The works he creates explores themes of technology, internet and youth culture.

Daniel H. Rey is a Paraguayan-Colombian curator based in Abu Dhabi. He is interested in contemporary art, radio, and artistic exchanges in the Global South. He is the Managing Editor of Global Art Daily, a UAE-focused independent publication. Daniel is a pioneer of microtheater in Abu Dhabi and formerly hosted Jangueo, the city’s only radio show in Spanish via NYUAD’s Howler Radio.  He was trained in the visual and performing arts in Norway, Germany, the USA, and the Emirates. Daniel has joined initiatives presented at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi Art, and graduated from NYU Abu Dhabi with a B.A. in Theater and Social Research/Public Policy.

Dina Al Khatib is a Multimedia Designer. She received her degree from the American University of Sharjah. Through a research-intensive process, she explores various ways through which different forms of media can be integrated. She continuously strives to grow and hopes to pursue a Masters degree in the near future.

Mohammad Mhaisen is a Palestinian multidisciplinary artist whose work incorporates the use of photography, video, illustration, and most recently, fashion. His practice is characterised by running themes of nostalgia, memories and self-expression. Mhaisen focusses on deep contextual narratives as a tool for storytelling, bringing forth these running themes to strike a chord with his audience.

Saad Boujane is an architect and a graduate of the American University of Sharjah, where he was the recipient of the 2018 Sheikh Khalifa Scholarship Award, the 2017 Maroun A. Semaan Scholarship Award, and took on several teaching and research assistant positions. Prior to joining T.ZED Architects, Saad’s final year thesis was a 2019 RIBA Silver Medal finalist, 2019 Architizer Drawing Competition finalist, and awarded at the annual RSP Drawing Award. His work was published and exhibited at the 1971 Design Space, Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Architizer, The Archaeologist and he has also contributed to the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Tala Khalil is Palestinian by origin, Jordanian by nationality, Emirati by upbringing and has always struggled with a sense of displacement. Through her academic journey as a visual communication student at the American University of Sharjah, Khalil delved into aspects of identity, culture, gender, expressing them through photography, experimental film, books, posters and installations.

Tasnim Al Tinawi is an architectural designer who graduated in 2018 and is currently working at Architecture + Other Things. Through furniture design, she explores unique relationships between the human body; its movement and occupation in space. She co-founded UT- r studio with Uthra Varghese in 2016 when they met at the American University of Sharjah. UT- r studio is a research practice based in Dubai and New York that explores the relationships between cultural context and the built environment. They shed light on the complexities of sociopolitical landscapes and reimagine possibilities through investigative design methods. The practice integrates work across the disciplines of architecture, art, installation and product design.