The Third Line gallery

The niche gallery has opened its warehouse doors to feature cutting-edge exhibitions, showcase international callibre artists and build a collectors base, prompting whispers of Al Quoz 3 being transformed into a new Chelsea or Soho. Since The Third Line's inception, it has regularly featured cutting-edge exhibitions, showcased international calibre artists and established a collector's base, which is ever-increasing. Along with its regular gallery offerings, The Third Line organises non-profit, alternative programs including: Kutub, a bi-lingual Arab literature appreciation circle founded in April 2006; Hiraf, an exhibition of contemporary Middle Eastern crafts founded in February 2006; and a Documentary and Arab Feature Film Series founded in May and September 2006 respectively, both of which feature moderated debates after each film screening. The gallery also hosts one-off artist talks and literary seminars. The Third Line introduced student programming with shows by Latifa College and the American University in Dubai, plus Moving Walls, a photojournalism exhibition with workshops on tour from New York.

The Third Line also manages art consulting and art procurement projects for the corporate and hospitality sector. Clients to date have included the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), Radisson Hotel, both of whom TTL have supplied artworks for, plus collaborations with Arabian Automobiles, Gargash Enterprises, MMI/Veuve Clicquot, LVMH/Dom Perignon, and Dubai Holdings.

Principle directors of The Third Line

Sunny Rahbar
Of Iranian heritage, Rahbar was born in the United States and raised in Dubai. Rahbar holds a Bachelor of the Arts from the prestigious Parsons Schools of Design. During school and after graduation, she worked in the Guggenheim Museum in a department tasked with fundraising for exhibition production. Rahbar went on to work for Sotheby’s in London. Before returning to Dubai, Rahbar was part of the team that opened the high profile art company Eyestorms’ Soho, New York gallery. Rahbar has been a high-profile independent curator in Dubai since returning from New York. She has independently curated over a dozen exhibitions. Her guests of honour opening the art exhibitions include HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Son and Daughter, and Benazir Bhutto, amongst others. Additionally, she was the resident curator of Five Green, known as one the first creative lifestyle showrooms in the UAE. Her network includes artists and collectors from throughout the Middle East, London and New York.

Claudia Cellini
Cellini has owned and operated her own art firm for the past 6 years in Southeast Asia, assisting corporate and private groups manage and grow their art collections. Her clients include JP Morgan Chase, ExxonMobil, United Overseas Bank, European Financial Group, Lane Crawford Inc, Goldlion (HK), Singtel, Mazda Motors, Tun Lok Group, Crystal Jade among others. Her firm specializes in art collection management offering art procurement services, cataloguing, inventorying, art budgeting and fiscal advisory, art programming and collection management. In Jan 2003, Cellini founded a non-profit art education program, Art Outreach, for local Singaporean schools with funding from American Express Foundation (NY), United World Collage. The Singapore Government joined forces with the group to provide significant amounts of funding, endorsement and advisory. The program currently teaches 5000 students per month and has around 150 volunteers. Its fundraising activities include large scale auctions with Christie’s and the Singapore’s Land Transport Authority. Cellini has been featured in numerous community conferences speaking on the program and the building of a non-profit. In 2004, Art Outreach was nominated for the Presidents Choice award as Best New Non-Profit Initiative.

Omar Ghobash
A patron of the arts that are yet to be, Ghobash believes in nurturing the arts of tomorrow. An Arab and a UAE national, he is deeply committed to discovering the complexity and variety of various Arab thought through the arts and believes the arts perform a vital social function. Ghobash believes in providing structures to release artistic, economic, and social energies. His community leadership expands far beyond the arts, into fields of business, governance and education. Ghobash was the Deputy CEO of the Emirates Foundation.

The Story So Far…

Rokni
March 11 - March 18, 2005
The Third Line launched with an exhibition of large-scale paintings by young Iranian artist Rokni Haeri imaginatively displayed at the luxurious residential building Le Reve. On his canvases, colour is key; an explosion of oranges, yellows, reds and greens slashed furiously into abstracted scenes.

Heal The World
April 7, 2005
A one night only art and music event launching of the Sharjah Biennial 7, which celebrated bridges across divides: local & international, Sharjah and Dubai, artist and art lover.

un/written
An exhibition of paintings by Golnaz Fathi
June 30 - July 15, 2005

Love/Hate
An exhibition of Contemporary Pakistani Miniatures
August 4 - August 31, 2005

You know where you came from, you know where you’re going and you know where you belong
Paintings by Amir H Fallah
September 1 - September 20, 2005

Youssef Nabil: Portraits
A solo exhibition of photographs by the globally acclaimed Youssef Nabil September 23 to September 23 - October 14, 2005

From Here to After
Paintings by Eric Chan
September 29 - October 29, 2005

Beyond Black
Photographs by Shirin Aliabadi, Ramin Haerizadeh, Bahman Jalali, Rana Javadi & Shadi Ghadirian
November 10 - November 26, 2005

Hyper-Real
Fashion, illustration, animation & photoworks by Amna Alzaabi, Lamia Gargash & Raghda Bukhash
December 17 - January 3, 2005/6

Farhad Moshiri
Paintings by Farhad Moshiri
January 25 - February 16, 2006

Laleh Khorramian
An exhibition of prints, drawings and animation by Iranian-American artist Laleh Khorramian
March 1 - March 20, 2006

Figure/Ground: 4 Women and their Surroundings
An exhibition of photographs and paintings by four North African women
April 20 - May 14, 2006

Rokni Haeri: An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings
Large scale paintings and works on paper by rising Tehran art star Rokni Haeri
May 22 - June 18, 2006

Perceptions
An exhibition of photographs by Latifa College
June 21 - July 10, 2006

No Vacancy
An exhibition of photographs by American University in Dubai
July 13 - August 02, 2006

Moving Walls
A Documentary Photography Exhibition
August 27 - September 16, 2006

Golnaz Fathi
New paintings and installation work by the Tehran based artist
September 21 - October 19, 2006

From Egypt With Love
An interdisciplinary exhibition of works by Susan Hefuna and Huda Lutfi November 03 to November 3 - November 22, 2006

Civilisation (fake=real?) by Fouad Elkoury
An exhibition of photographs by Fouad Elkoury
December 02 - December 22, 2006

Flashback/Forward
A Visual Timeline of Cultural Practices in the Middle East
December 10, 2006 – March 15, 2007

Under the Indigo Dome
Works on paper, canvas and walls by Amir Fallah and Ala’ Ebtekar
January 18 – February 15, 2007

Portraits Self Portraits
Photography by Youssef Nabil
February 23 - March 15, 2007

Can You Teach Me How to Fight?
Paintings by Marwan Sahmarani
March 22 - April 25, 2007

Candy Store
New Paintings by Farhad Moshiri
May 2 - May 28, 2007

Long Distance: Between Location and Emotion
Video and works on paper by Abbas Akhavan and Remi Arora
June 2 - July 7, 2007

Bring the Noise: Seeing Yourself in My Brown Eyes
Featuring Arwa Abouon, Wael Shawky, Farhad Moshiri/Shirin Aliabadi
July 2007

Colour Codes
Works by Rana Begum
September 5 – October 10, 2007