Join us for our monthly Family Saturdays at the Jameel event, featuring a guided tour of the current exhibition and a series of hands-on art making activities for all ages.

This edition offers a unique chance to gain an in-depth exploration of several works from our current exhibitions including Artist’s Room: Amba Sayal-Bennett, Artist’s Room: Sancintya Mohini Simpson and Artist’s Room: Augustine Parades.

The tour, led by Sana Waqar, an arts education expert, involves an in-depth exploration of the three Artist’s Rooms on the ground floor. Following the tour, families are invited to participate in four immersive self-led activities inspired by the artists’ exhibition works. The activities delve into themes such as abstraction, history, migration, and the meaning behind different materials, sparking thoughtful conversations and creative connections for the whole family!

Participants deepen their engagement with artists’ themes, mediums, and processes. Through self-led activities, they learn various hands-on techniques, such as building 3D abstract sculptures, experimenting with paper assemblage and water drawings, and experiencing an interactive sensory station featuring sand and clay pots. 

The activities are free to attend and run all day to encourage and support creativity and imagination. Jameel Arts Centre strives to provide space for children to share stories and to foster cultural awareness through artistic exploration that supports healthy child-development and growth.

Family Saturdays at the Jameel are suitable for all ages. All materials, step by step guides and instructional videos will be provided.

The tour begins at 11:00am and participants are welcome to drop by and enjoy the activities until 4:00pm.

About:

Augustine Paredes (b. 1994, lives and works in Frankfurt am Main and Dubai) 

Augustine Paredes is a Filipino multi-disciplinary artist working with photography, painting, installation and poetry. Through his practice, Augustine questions what it means to desire in the light of migration, identity and longing.

Sancintya Mohini Simpson (b.1991, lives and works in Meanjin/Brisbane) 

Sancintya Mohini Simpson is a descendant of indentured labourers sent from India to work on colonial sugar plantations in South Africa. Her work navigates the complexities of migration, memory and trauma, addressing gaps and silences within the colonial archive. Sancintya’s work moves between painting, video, poetry and performance to develop narratives and construct rituals that reflect on her maternal lineage. 

Amba Sayal-Bennett (b. 1991, lives and works in London)

Amba Sayal-Bennett is a British-Indian artist working across drawing, projection and sculptural installations. Her practice explores how methods of abstraction are exclusionary and performative, crafting boundaries between what is present, manifestly absent and othered. Her recent work focuses on the migration of modernist forms and their role within fascist and brutalist architecture. Using processes inherent to the diasporic experience, she uses translation as method and explores the movement of bodies, knowledge and form across different sites. 

About Sana Waqar 

Sana Waqar is a multidisciplinary artist from Pakistan based in Dubai. With over ten years of training and experience in textile, fashion, and visual arts, Sana has participated in numerous freelance projects and exhibitions, both locally and internationally. In 2019, Sana graduated with an MA in Art and Design Studies from Beaconhouse National University and later joined as a teaching associate in the School of Visual Arts and Design.

As a practising artist, Sana is always open to learning new skills and gaining diverse experience in art and design. Sana has been a part of the Campus Art Dubai 10.0 Programme as an Exhibitor Relations Assistant. She currently teaches Patterning Practices as a visiting faculty at BNU and works closely, designing and facilitating interactive family workshops and programmes at the Jameel Arts Centre.