Third Line

The Third line is an art gallery in Dubai which showcases the contemporary Middle east artists on local platform as well as international and regional platform. The Third line Art gallery is founded in 2005 by three directors and they are on the position currently also, Mr. Omar Ghobash businessman and United Arab Emirates diplomat, Mr. Sunny Rahbar and Claudia Cellini.

Naming History of the Third Line:

Sunny Rahbar one of the director of the Third line belongs to an Iranian family and brought up in her family in Dubai. She studied art from US then after having her first experience in curating, in 2001 she returned back to Dubai. There she with the help of other likeminded people, organized music, art and fashion events. Then she continued her art work through different exhibitions, people showed interest in her work and efforts and started buying her art.

While Sunny was thinking about her own art space she met with Claudia Cellini, she too comes from US and lived in Asia from a long time. She also run an art consulting agency in Singapore and it was a nonprofit program dedicated to art education.

One of the third director is Mr. Omar Gobash, he born in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE and studied mathematic in Britain. After that he worked in diplomatic service and business for many years He is deputy CEO of Emirate foundation in Abu Dhabi.

These three met and plan to start an art space, they avoid to use the term gallery in the beginning as the project is earned a broader platform, then they decided to give it the name ‘Third Line’. They take its name from one of a poem written by one Iranian Sufi mystic poet, Shas-e-Tabrizi who is the teacher and friend of the famous poet Rumi. In his poem, the third line expresses the unknown, which lies in middle spaces and is still in waiting process for discovering it.

At the same time this name also stands for the three partners of the Third Line, first there were some considerations that Third line will work as non-commercial art space but the funding from Emirates and international firms were very less so only the solution was to make it commercial so it can survive.

Now it is a commercial art gallery where first mostly young purchasers from Arabs of different countries who are living in Dubai and the people from international word living in Dubai also purchasing this art. They are giving a lot of efforts to collect contemporary art in Third Line.

Sponsors can be found only occasionally for the exhibitions like bank and big firms that are interested to show their appearance in link with art. There are so many art pieces which are hard to sell but still they are existing there.

The market of art is changes rapidly and the client’s preferences cover a huge spectrum. They also giving chance to those artists who are hardly known in Dubai. It is the first gallery of the city which shows video works to its visitors.

Third Line as a most dedicated art gallery:

The Third line is among most dedicated place for current art in the Gulf area. The operators of the Third Line are some of the best artists on the scene. Dubai is known for its big shopping malls and exciting lifestyle but the concept of the Third Line is the main focus to attract people who likes art.

In this art gallery they promote the artist’s various art most particularly from Middle east and from regional and international level too. Their main concept is to foster the talent of young Gulf region artists and soon this art gallery became a special site of attraction in Dubai.

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Third line is arranging many events or film programs for the visitors to promote the Arabic talent through high level exhibitions, and the events which includes Arab director’s films, book presentations, discussion with artists, big seminars and a lot more. These all steps are helpful to expand the Art culture and to entertain the people who love art and talent done under any type of art.

Mostly the artists whose art is displaying in Third Line art gallery are from Middle East, South Asia and North America. This art space has become a distinct platform to promote and establish the talent of region and diaspora. The art gallery displays time to time daring alternative art to gain the interest, artistic development, discourse around modern art, film, music and literature.

Third Line is a first gallery that shows video installations and along that they have a big library who publish books every year and monographs about artist and by artist its rosters.

Artists of Third Line:

Third Line almost 25 artists representing their art in this famous art space with a broad range of art across the Middle East. On the Gallery’s roster of award-winning launched and emerging artists are famous Emiratis like Farah Al Qasimi and international big topers like Iranian Artists Farman farmaian, Farhad Moshiri and Monir Shahroudy.

There are many displays of great photographers in this art gallery such as Egyptian Photographer Youssef Nabil and Lebanese photographer & filmmaker Fouad Elkoury.

Some artists that are representing their art in Third Line, are established artists linked to the region such as a Bangladeshi London based sculptor Rana Begum, Iranian but American based artist Pouran Jinchi and Eurasian art by Slavs and Tatars.

There is a big list of artists including these above mentioned artists, that display their art in different fields of art in this famous art space. Many of the artists known from this gallery only, before they were anonymous to the world but now they are well known for their art and creativity.

Exhibitions and art fairs in Third Line:

The Third Line appeared at Frieze London and Art Dubai in 2019 with enhancing and growing presence on International art fair. The Third line also took part in ART021 Shanghai contemporary Art fair and Basel Art.

Third line continually hosting fil screenings and talks to foster more discussion on modern and contemporary art in Middle East. The role fiction plays in their conscious lives is not related to empirical nature and not a fact but it ca bear the truth. It is like a re-imagination or the completion of truth but one might see it in complete.

There is a sense of double thinking while looking at the art display there which can be imagined in a variety of ways. Whether it can be seen in visual or complimentary ideas, the visitors are invited to use their own imaginations and fictitious narratives in link with this duality. Each of the art in different exhibitions tells stories of irony, humor, aesthetics, fables and ideologies.

Location:

The Third line is located in industrial area, near Al Quoz inside a former warehouse. Street no 6, Al Quoz 3 Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Timings:

The Third Line art gallery is open from 10am to 7pm.

 

visit official website: http://www.thethirdline.com/

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