Janet Bellotto - Dean
Bio

Janet Bellotto is a multidisciplinary Italian-Canadian artist, educator and writer from Toronto and abased in Dubai. With nearly two decades of teaching in the visual arts, she has held various administrative roles and contributing significantly to establishing the BFA programs at CACE and gaining NASAD Substantial Equivalency for ZU. Professionally, she has been a member of the College Art Association since 1999, serving on the International Committee from 2016-2020. She is Chair of ISEA’s International Advisory Committee, and from 2015-2021, she was Founding Editor of Tribe, continues as Editor-at-Large—a magazine focusing on photography and new media art in the Arab world.

Janet has played a key role in the dynamic development of the UAE’s arts and culture community, teaching successive cohorts of women, many of whom have gone on to become prominent Emirati artists, representing the UAE at the Venice Biennale and other international exhibitions. In the UAE, she has embraced the opportunity to envision and support a future where artists from diverse countries and cultures can build bridges of understanding between communities. Supporting faculty and programs in this mission is vital. In a rapidly advancing, high-tech world where innovation, entrepreneurship, and the creative industries are at the forefront, academic institutions must foster inclusivity and adapt curricula to reflect the growing diversity of perspectives. ‘Students are at the heart of everything we do; they are the future, and it is towards that future we build, while honouring the milestones of the past.’

Inspired by narratives and the ever-changing world she travels through, water is a constant theme in her practice. Her recent projects focus on islands in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, exploring their delicate ecologies and environments, including the effects of climate change. Utilizing storytelling, she further explores new landscapes, considering a sustainable future where the island acts as a microcosm of the world. She also engages in curatorial projects that promote cultural exchange, such as the 2023 exhibition Resonating Tides for the Women’s Pavilion at Expo City for COP28. In her creative pursuits, she has secured multi-year research grants, including City East-West which compares media impact and cultural narratives of Dubai and Los Angeles. Another project, COMET: Communicating, Observing, Mapping Environments and Tolerance, focused on mapping an island’s ecology, in this case Sir Bani Yas, using various digital imaging tools and design. Among various awards, she was honored with the Key to the City of Cordenons, Italy, in 2021. Her major research project on Sable Island was published in 2017 by lightbox, Venice, in the book Our Ocean Guide (2017) by MAP Office. Her upcoming book Planetary Fluke will be published by Impulse[b] in 2024/25. Bellotto’s work has been exhibited internationally in numerous collective, group and solo exhibitions, as well as art fairs. Selected exhibitions include: One Point Five Below, Bewaerschole, Netherlands; Bon Voyage! Travelling In Contemporary Art (2020-21) Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, Germany; Risorgimento: Vista della Torre dall'Oceano (Resurgence Across the Ocean) (2021) Cordenons, Italy; Voices: Artists on Art (2017) Harbourfront Centre, Toronto.


 
Office

Dubai Academic City, Dubai

Phone:

+971 4 402 1476

Email:
Teaching Areas

A summary of the courses you teach within CACE, your teaching philosophy, or any special roles or projects they're involved in.

Research and Professional Activities

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