Dubai Calligraphy Biennale | Aimi Sekiguchi

Multimedia Designer and Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Zayed University

Isaac Sullivan (b. 1980, US) is a Dubai-based multimedia artist whose research interests include artificial intelligence, sound art, and the problematics of space and place. Exploring emerging technologies and cybernetics, his work engages with ecological thought and AI’s impact on images, data, territory, and observation.

Sullivan’s exhibitions and performances, which incorporate video, text, and installation, include Kulturforum, Berlin; MMAG Foundation, Amman; MNFA, Amman; Experimenter, Kolkata; Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai; Galerie Obrist, Essen; 8th Tashkent Biennale; Etta, Singapore; IF.BE, Mumbai; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai; Beirut Design Week; and ECC's 58th Venice Biennale collateral

He has been profiled in Outland, SO-FAR, and TW IST (forthcoming); and his writing has appeared in Canvas, Quarterly West, Court Green, Pool, Slope, GutCult, Georgetown Review, and 1913: A Journal of Forms. Sullivan is author of Echo Holdings x Ω (JARA Collective, forthcoming), Utopics 3 (GfzK e.V., forthcoming), and Chyron: Grammar of Simultaneity, a chapter in Future Perfect: Catastrophe and Redemption in the Contemporary (Kaph Books, 2023). He is currently Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Zayed University, Dubai.

NFT artist in the UAE

amrita is the first NFT artist in the UAE, a phygital artist, a pioneer and thought leader in the web3 space as well as an award-winning UAE golden visa holder.

After a successful career in the banking world, amrita left the corporate world to become an artist, leading to the creation of her multimedia art genre, SoundBYTEs(c). Pushing boundaries, amrita harnesses technology as a digital paintbrush, seamlessly merging the physical and digital worlds while exploring the power of storytelling, Her other collection such as The AlphaBYTEs, The CrystalBYTES, and the AIBYTEs which continue to explore sound and storytelling transforming new languages and infusing human consciousness into art. She works with physical artwork, murals, sculptures, NFTs and fashion and adds augmented(AR), virtual reality(VR) and artificial intelligence(AI) into her work. amrita aims to inspire change through art and technology, empowering individuals and communities to find their unique voice and share their stories.

Director and founder of Lammtara Art Production

Best known as the man behind the animated TV series FREEJ, Mohammed Saeed Harib is the Chairman of Lammtara Art Production and has successfully created stage shows, feature films and gaming apps.

Shortly after founding Lammtara in 2005, Mohammed started the production of FREEJ, a hugely popular 3D animated TV series that features four much-loved Emirati grandmothers. FREEJ was voted by Dubai One viewers as the number one TV show of 2006, 2007 and 2008, with the first season receiving the Special Country Award at the Hamburg Animation Awards in 2007. The fifth season was aired in 2013 and received rave reviews.

In 2009, building on his success with FREEJ, Mohammed directed the largest Arabic theatrical production in the Middle East, FREEJ Folklore. This unique stage show, a celebration of UAE heritage and culture, was staged at the Madinat Jumeirah Arena in both English and Arabic. The show cleverly created the illusion of holographic animated FREEJ characters interacting with real life performers. This was accompanied by musical performances by the world-renowned London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Early in 2013, Mohammed was invited to be a creative consultant for Kanye West’s art film Cruel Summer, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Then, remaining closer to his Middle Eastern roots, Mohammed was honoured to be asked to be the Director of the UAE’s official 42nd National Day ceremony, which took place in Burj Park in 2013. Soon after this, he went on to direct three seasons of Arabia’s largest and immensely popular edutainment show “SIRAJ”.

Later in 2015, he went on to direct a chapter in Roger Allers’ animated Hollywood production The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, where he worked alongside eight, very talented international directors, including Salma Hayek and Liam Neeson.

More recently, Mohammed worked with Imagenation and directed his first life action feature entitled “Rashed and Rajab”, which went on to be the highest grossing film of 2019. Mohammed’s work in the intellectual property arena saw him developing the official mascots for not only Dubai Expo 2020, but being selected to relaunch MODESH, Dubai’s official mascot.

Creative Director of the Museum of the Future, UAE

As Creative Director of the Museum of the Future, Brendan McGetrick oversees the storytelling and design elements of all content, exhibitions, and the overall visitor experience. His work aims to empower visitors to see themselves and the world in new ways. By establishing the Museum’s voice, Brendan hopes to reflect its high-level message, inspiring visitors to act upon it even long after their visit.

To bring the Museum’s experience to life, Brendan and his team seek to go beyond the immersive, to achieve an experience that is expansive. The museum’s creative content is designed to expand what the audience thinks possible - for the world, for the future and for themselves. The exhibition floors and all their settings, scenarios, objects and interactions are crafted to achieve this effect.

Throughout his career, Brendan has contributed to numerous exhibitions as an artist, designer, author, and curator. His previous shows include California: Designing Freedom at the Design Museum in London and Fair Enough at the 2014 Venice Biennale. In 2011, Brendan curated Unnamed Design, a component of the Gwangju Design Biennale. The exhibition received over 200,000 visitors and was selected as the year's best contemporary design show by the New York Times.

Before joining the Museum of the Future, Brendan served as Director and Curator of Global Grad Show, the world's largest graduate design and technology exhibition, held each November as part of Dubai Design Week.

Head Technologist at Expo City Dubai

An international award-winning designer and artist who keeps exploring cutting edge technology for large scale events as Head Technolist for Expo City Dubai. He was one of the team that spearheaded the idea through to final delivery of the Al Wasl real-time interactive application. The result was that the world’s largest immersive dome can be controlled in real-time by moving a finger on an iPad. Al Wasl was awarded a Guinness World Record for this achievement as the world’s largest interactive immersive dome.”