The Social Web - Cultural Critique in the UAE on Social Media
The Pavilion Downtown Dubai has been hosting The Social Web, an event that started a few weeks ago, which looks at the use of social media on the arts and culture in the UAE and to expose key players who use social media to highlight and promote contemporary art and culture within the Emirates. The event also addresses the relevance of social media in the local art-scene and why social media has rapidly become part of our everyday.
The weekly event started on Saturday, 18th May and will go on till Saturday, 15th June. Panel discussions are held every Saturday and includes locally based artists, designers, musicians, bloggers, entrepreneurs, and social media personalities.
The event this week is titled 'Cultural Critique in the UAE on Social Media' and yours truly has been invited to be part the panel discussion.
Cultural Critique in the UAE on Social Media
4.00pm at The Pavilion Downtown Dubai
This panel discussion will focus on the use of social media in the UAE to discuss art and culture in the Emirates, addressing the importance it has on allowing people to engage, educate and inspire online audiences.
Columnist and commentator on current affairs, Mishaal Al Gergawi will be moderating the panel, which includes the editor and founder of The Culturist, Hind Mezaina, Fair Director at Art Dubai, Antonia Carver and entrepreneur and new media strategist Danish Farhan.
I will be in good company. The panel includes:
Moderator - Mishaal Al Gergawi:
Mishaal Al Gergawi is the managing director of the Delma Insititute. Holding a BA and an MSc. in finance. After maintaining a popular weekly opinion column in the local papers, he was asked to join the Dubai government to establish its contemporary cultural projects strategy. Mishaal continues to write a column with a specific focus on the GCC. He analyses the challenges and opportunities of the region, its member states and cities from geopolitical, economic and socio-cultural considerations. Mishaal is an avid user of Twitter and has gained a significantly large following over the years.
PANELISTS
Antonia Carver:
Antonia Carver became Fair Director of Art Dubai, the leading international art fair for the Middle East and South Asia, in August 2010. Antonia has written extensively on Middle Eastern art and film, and was a correspondent for The Art Newspaper. She is a member of the programming committee for the Dubai International Film Festival, specializing in Arab cinema. Antonia primarily uses Twitter and Facebook – the former more for work, the latter more personal, although Antonia believes that the divisions between public and personal (when it comes to an interest in art, film and culture) are quite blurry.
Danish Farhan:
Danish Farhan is the founder of consulting boutique Xische & Co. He was born and raised in the Middle East, and is passionate about culture, entrepreneurship and hybrid thinking. He has been one of the founding consultants for the Dubai International Film Festival, an exhibiting artist, and regular jury member at regional entrepreneurship events. Danish regularly blogs on topics including design thinking, entrepreneurship and the business culture. To Danish, social media in many ways is his calendar, journal, sketchpad and newspaper rolled into one. He does not spend chunks of time at a stretch on any single social tool, but consumes content in bursts throughout the day. Similarly, he creates content in much the same sporadic way.
(And here's what they say about me)
Hind Mezaina is a photographer and blogger from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Her blog, theculturist.com, offers a unique voice in the cultural sphere of Dubai and the region. It aims to showcase creative talent and inspire its readers. Hind is very active on social media and uses Twitter on a daily basis to share interesting links, funny observations or photos and thoughts on events she has attended, such as exhibitions, talks and film screenings.
If you are in the neighbourhood, please do join us.
Event details
Date: Saturday, 8th June 2013 at 4.00pm
Venue: The Pavilion Downtown, Downtown Dubai (location map)
Phone: +971 4 4477025
Free entry