These marble, granite, fiber glass or stainless steel structures will then be placed permanently in prominent places in the city.
Abu Dhabi is in the process of a major makeover. No, we are not talking about tall buildings here. Seventeen contemporary artists from all over the world have been converging here over the last week to begin work on their sculptures. These marble, granite, fiber glass or stainless steel structures will then be placed permanently in prominent places in the city.
The Feb. 25-April 7 event, titled ADISS (Abu Dhabi International Sculpture Symposium), is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
ADISS 2010 will be held under the guidance of Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, minister of higher education and scientific research and organized under the umbrella of Zayed University in collaboration with Salwa Zeidan Gallery, one of Abu Dhabi’s eminent contemporary art spaces. Strategic partners in this unique event are the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City and the Armed Forces Officers Club where the artists would be seen sculpting on the spot.
Salwa Zeidan Gallery, a contemporary art gallery, was conceived by  its director Salwa Zeidan in 2009 as a platform for artists from all over the globe to showcase their works in mediums like painting, photography and sculpture. The gallery is also known for its efforts to encourage emerging talent with high potential from the greater Gulf region. Therefore, this time for ADISS the gallery is introducing Husam Chaya from Lebanon, who will be joining 16 other artists to work on their individual creations.
Apart from Husam, artists participating in this first edition of ADISS are Billy Lee from the UK, Caroline Ramersdorfer from Austria, Ehab El Laban from Egypt, Fabrizio Dieci from Italy, Gheorghi Filin and Petre Petrov from Bulgaria, Gregor Kregar from Slovenia, Hassan Sharif from the UAE, Hwang Seoung-Woo from Korea, Jo Kley from Germany, Jon Barlow Hudson from the US, John Gogaberishvili from Georgia, Juanjo Novella from Spain, Konstantin Dimopoulos from Australia, Masahiro Hasegawa and Yoshin Ogata from Japan.
For people of the UAE, ADISS marks an important historic milestone and will be a big step in leveraging international recognition of Abu Dhabi as a center of art.
“The objective of the symposium is to initiate co-operation between artists of different backgrounds and promote the UAE as a new meeting place for artistic and cultural creativity. In its inaugural run, ADISS will open its doors to the world under the theme of “Bridging Societies through the Language of Art” and will bring together renowned sculptors from around the world to reveal their creativity on site from the heart of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,” said Sulaiman Al Jassim, vice president of Zayed University at the inauguration of the event.
Al Jassim added: “Since we are aware that art plays an important role in our everyday lives as it can enhance and compliment our environment, bring communities together, offer social and educational opportunities and promote tourism, Zayed University and Salwa Zeidan Gallery are also working closely to organize lectures by the visiting artists that are open to the public.”
Salwa Zeidan, an eminent artist herself, is excited over the prospect of having such a historic event in Abu Dhabi. “The aim here is to have ADISS take on the form of a performing art event — an open sculpture studio, involving participation of both artists and the public. People will be able to observe the evolution of a sculpture as it goes from conceptualization through planning, carving, roughing, smoothing and polishing,” she says.
An event of this magnitude requires months of pre-planning and numerous logistical arrangements, so it is not surprising that it took two years to finally bear fruit. The selection process itself was very critical for the organizers.
“A successful symposium is as good as the artists that take part in it! This has been a focal point for us since the start with the selection process being the essence of all the preparation. It was crucial for us to get hold of artists who were experienced enough and talented enough to elevate the standard of ADISS,” says Salwa Zeidan.
When the first announcement was made, the organizers were overwhelmed by the response as more than 400 entries were sent to them from all corners of the globe. Each entry had to be carefully reviewed and short-listed based on style and medium used. The reviewed artists were then asked to submit three designs of sculptures that would compliment the city of Abu Dhabi.
“Through this multi-phased evaluation process, we managed to find 16 artists of the highest caliber. We are also proud to reveal that the works of art created by these experienced artists meet the highest standard expected at similar sculpting events taking place in many countries around the world,” says Salwa.
For a first-hand look, one can visit the Armed Forces Officers Club where the artists are creating their sculptures on the spot. Visiting hours are from Saturdays to Thursdays (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.).
Apart from the actual sculpting that will be taking place in public view, the other focus of the symposium will be lectures and workshops held by the artists themselves. These will include several workshops and presentations to students of Zayed University at Abu Dhabi and Dubai campuses as well as four public lectures that will be open to anyone interested.
The ADISS promises to be an annual event. The organizers feel that Abu Dhabi has the capacity to host a greater number of sculptures than can be produced through one single event. It will also go a long way to further affirm Abu Dhabi’s position as a truly modern city and boost its claim to be a city to reckon with in the future.
 www.adiss-uae.com