Premium vodka brand Absolut has been promoting art since 1985, when it first launched its Absolut Art Bar series. Showcasing the brand alongside emerging artists, Absolut gives artists carte blanche to produce installations in pop-up bars during some of the world’s foremost arts festivals including Art Basel, Coachella and Art Dubai.
Winning Pitch
Held this year at the Madinat Jumeirah hotel, Art Dubai has featured Absolut art bars since 2013, with installations inspired by Dubai’s futuristic architecture and stark landscape. Palestinian artist Yazan Khalili followed tradition with the series’ latest event, called The Island. It comprised a 15 mountain façade set against a view of the city’s skyscrapers.
In a nod to the region’s emerging status, the concept looks at the emirate’s history compared with its status as an ultra-modern hub and what Khalili calls the nexus of “past futures”.
Khalili worked with Icelandic artist Arnar Ásgeirsson on the installation’s design and fittings, and brought in Palestinian multimedia artist Jumana Abboud to give her take on the cocktail concept. In keeping with the event’s theme, Abboud created receptacles based on mountaineering, such as tins, enamel cups and pouches.
Highlights
Brand Manager at Pernod Ricard, Donna Martin Dick oversaw the event at Art Dubai.
“The highlight of the bar was the mountain, which appeared 3D when looking at it from afar. Once visitors were taken into the bar, the illusion of the mountain confronted them and its reality disappeared, revealing exposed scaffolding and light installations,” she said.
Featuring four custom-made cocktails, served in Abboud’s eccentric vessels, the drinking experience brought home the sponsor’s message for the evening. The bar staff was dressed in metallic uniforms which reflected the bar’s flashing lights.
But it was the variety of entertainment that made the event stand out from others at the show, said Ahmed El-Gamal, Digital Director at ad agency BBDO.
“It felt like there was something different every night. While most of the events at Art Dubai were workshops or speeches, the Art Bar had different musical acts, performances and DJs that set a different tone each night.”
Spoken-word performances and bands from across the region featured in the lineup, including Kuwaiti hip-hop duo Sons of Yusuf, Ghada Da, and DJ sets compiled by famed Dubai club Analog Room. Interactive experiences accompanied the entertainment, such as a sound installation demonstrating the significance of sound to human sensory awareness on the bridge that crossed to The Island.
The Upshot
However challenging, giving artists total licence is key to an event that features artwork, said Pernod Ricard’s Donna Martin Dick. “It is essential to give the artists free rein. Of course, when undertaking a project this size, there are many co-ordination and logistical considerations which require compromise, but they positively challenge the team.”
Over the course of four nights, over 2,100 attendees visited The Island between 9pm and 1:30am, but Ahmed El-Gamal says that the closing time should have been extended. “It’s difficult to predict where people will go on different nights as there are so many different events on at the same time. But the event was heavily promoted across social media by Art Dubai and the artists themselves, so there was a lot of footfall. As per Jumeirah guidelines, the bar had to close at 1:30am, but it should have gone on for longer…”
