Third time is a charm

The third iteration of Residents at Art Dubai shines a special spotlight on the African continent and some of its emerging artists. identity talks to Residents curator Kabelo Malatsie.

- PENNY McCORMICK

Since its inception, Art Dubai’s Residents section has presented a vibrant group of artists who have been invited to the UAE from different countries to create work within a unique context. Last year featured the work of Brazilian artist Luiz Roque, who has since exhibited at the New Museum in New York City, and of Argentinian artist Luciana Lamothe, whose work Limber Sharp is now showcased at the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai.

This year Residents is focusing is on the African continent and is curated by Johannesburg-based Kabelo Malatsie, who comments on her curatorial approach to this programme: “I am interested in internal logic; why some people naturally work on the left, or why/if being left-handed means you have a natural disposition to seeing the world in relation to your left-handedness … how we pick out certain colours and experience colour, [and] how our individual and collective experiences creates biases in how we see and experience the world.”