Art Dubai 2009, the Middle East’s largest contemporary art event, will host a series of talks, Start workshops and book launches to mark its fourth and final day (March 21).

Art Dubai is a subsidiary of the Dubai International Financial Centre and is held in partnership with Abraaj Capital at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.

The first Start workshop of the day, ‘Stories and Film,’ will see Nayla Al Khaja exploring the development of storyboards and methods of performance for film. This event is geared towards young artists, aged six to 14.

The second Start workshop, ‘Big Painting,’ will be led by artist Sacha Jafri and local arts organisation Tashkeel. The workshop brings together a large team of children, ages three to 18, to collaborate on the creation of a six-foot painting.

The concluding day of the show will mark the launch of two books. While ‘Aish - Bread and Life’ will be presented by renowned curator Gaia Simionati, Tarek Al Ghoussein's  ‘In Absentia’ will be hosted by The Third Line gallery.

A talk at Art Park on ‘Art production in Palestine’ will be followed by another talk on ‘Production design in the Gulf’ by Rami Farook, director of traffic design gallery, along with designers James Clar and Katrin Greiling.

The third talk organized by the Khatt Foundation on ‘Typographic match-making in the city V2.0 project’ will draw upon the perspectives of Huda Smithsuijzen AbiFares, Rene Knip and Jeroenvan Erp.

Richard Wagner and Adina Hempel’s talk at the Bidoun Lounge will bring the curtains down on the four-day event that has attracted an overwhelming footfall since its public opening on March 18.

Art Dubai 2009 is open to the public from 10 am to 6 pm today (March 21). – TradeArabia News Service