Guggenheim Abu Dhabi: Do Art, Do It Now! Explored Artworks in an Evening of Playful, Interactive, And Unpredictable Experiences

Do Art, Do It Now!, an interactive evening of performances drawing on poetry, music, and theatre, enthralled audiences with the themes explored in the current Guggenheim Abu Dhabi exhibition, The Creative Act: Performance, Process, Presence. The evening brought together artists, curators, friends, and audience members to participate in an evening of playful, interactive, and unpredictable experiences inspired by the installation Another Happy Day (2016–17) by Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian, which was commissioned for The Creative Act.

Held at Manarat al Saadiyat on Thursday, May 18th, Do Art, Do It Now! hosted a series of ‘acts’ which reflected upon the themes and artworks in The Creative Act and challenged traditional concepts of art involving the artist or the audience undertaking simple actions and performances.

The evening hosted an unconventional fashion show, featuring eccentric wearable art and designs by participants of The Creative Act’s “Process Runway” workshops by students and alumni from Zayed University’s College of Arts and Creative Enterprises; an interactive spoken word performance piece in real time; on-going art workshops and a live performance by artists Rokni Haerizadeh, Ramin Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian; ending with an alternative music DJ set by Basil Al Hadi, Hussein Karim, and Daniil Prutnik that mixed experimental sound, event scores, and visuals to create an immersive experience, reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the art in the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi collection and exhibition.

The exhibition’s comprehensive programme of free public events and workshops is aimed at encouraging parents, children, teens and young adults to engage with the creativity on display in the exhibition through a wide variety of activities. Each workshop is directly linked to a specific artwork in the exhibition and presents the participants with an in-depth outlook into the topics and themes of the exhibition. Tailored hands-on activity tours, especially designed for children to create art with a parent or caregiver, and an array of workshops for teens and adults, offer the opportunity to explore the themes of the exhibition on the different aspects of the creative process including movement, performance, sound and sculpture.

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