Under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in partnership with Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), has unveiled the winning artwork of the twelfth edition of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2024 at Abu Dhabi Art.
The featured artwork, Datecrete Bee Hotel, is a sculpture crafted from datecrete, a new material made from date pits and entirely devoid of traditional concrete or resin. This unique structure is designed to attract solitary bees, fostering organic interactions between members of the species. It will remain in place for three months, during which time interactions between the bees and the piece will be documented on film. The final artwork will include both the structure and the documentary, showcasing the organic development of the ecological relationship.
Datecrete Bee Hotel was on display during Abu Dhabi Art before being displayed at other locations across Abu Dhabi until 27 December 2024.
The winning artists of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2024 are Sara Farha and Khaled Shalkha. Sara Farha is an architectural engineer and urban planner with an interest in material science and designing solutions that address needs, sensibilities, and the environment. Khaled Shalkha is a chemical engineer skilled in addressing challenges at the intersection of culture, economy and policy. They are mentored by Dr Christianna Bonin, Assistant Professor at the College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD) at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). The duo also founded Datecrete Studio, a material innovation and design studio that merges material science with design.
In attendance at the unveiling were His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), Her Excellency Huda Al-Khamis Kanoo, Founder of ADMAF; Emily Doherty, Director of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award; Maya Allison, Executive Director, NYUAD Art Gallery; Vladimir Yavacheff, Director of Operations, The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award, along with this year’s winning artists and other dignitaries.
Her Excellency Huda Ibrahim Al Khamis, Founder of ADMAF, said: “Over the last decade and a half, The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award contributed to providing a national incubator for creative industries and innovation, that includes supporting installations in the fields of painting, sculpture and visual arts.
"Twelve years ago, with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award, held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, we started public art in Abu Dhabi to stimulate creativity and artistic expression in the public space and encouraging the conservation of urban spaces within the emirate. In partnership with the University of New York Abu Dhabi and in its twelfth edition, the Award inspires creative university students and graduates to achieve their outstanding work in terms of idea, design and achievement, leading to its public display at Abu Dhabi Art, NYU Abu Dhabi and Umm Al Emarat Park.
"I congratulate the winners, Sara Farha and Khaled Shalkha, who worked under the supervision of Dr Christianna Bonin, Assistant Professor at the College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah. Their winning project embodies the award’s alignment with the vision of the Year of Sustainability 2023-2024, marking a significant contribution to environmental awareness and the preservation of natural resources, organisms and our local environment. By utilising date kernels as a sustainable building material, they have developed the first environmentally friendly cement of its kind.”
Maya Allison, Executive Director at NYUAD Art Gallery, said: "Abu Dhabi is at the threshold of a new chapter in public art, as we witness the Public Art Biennial launching now. It's wonderful to see this flourishing, and to participate with our longstanding support of emerging talent in the field of public art. Datecrete Bee Hotel in particular offers a future-facing vision of public art as a participant in non-human ecosystems, in this case the life of bees, and therefore plants. It reasserts our interconnectedness: species, structures, plants. We humans are living participants in the ecosystem, constructing buildings and public art, among which humans move and thrive, weaving a meaningful urban fabric."
Emily Doherty, Director of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award, said: “In the past twelve years, The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award has often championed artwork that holds up a mirror to contemporary social interests, including the Covid pandemic, social isolation, and the protection of Abu Dhabi’s precious mangroves, among others. It is perhaps no surprise then, that this year's winners - Sara Farha and Khaled Shalkha and their piece, Datecrete Bee Hotel - focus on environment and sustainability.
“They have created a work that is beautiful, useful, and important. It is made with a strong new, sustainable building material to rival concrete, which the artists have pioneered and engineered using the pits of dates. We congratulate them on their innovation and are delighted to see this new work produced for The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2024: the only award that offers emerging artists the opportunity to work from the point of commission to exhibition, with the support of arts professionals.”
Since its inception in 2013 in collaboration with the NYUAD Art Gallery, The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award has served as a launch pad for artists across the emirates, encouraging new artwork and offering winners insight into professional life as an artist, from commission to exhibition. The programme is open to UAE-based students and recent graduates.
