Research
Research and creative projects carried out by faculty, alumni, and students at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises (CACE) encompass an eclectic variety, ranging from traditional academic endeavors (papers, chapters) to the production of multimedia works. This includes traditional creative outputs such as painting, photography, sculpture, and film, as well as more recent explorations involving VR, XR and Artificial Intelligence (AI). While CACE acknowledges the importance of publishing in traditional academic journals such as Scopus-indexed journals, we also recognize that creative output extends beyond traditional dissemination methods. This includes participation in public exhibitions, art biennales, design, animation, film festivals, and other prestigious industry-recognized events.
Despite the world experiencing an international health pandemic between 2020 and 2021, CACE faculty remained dedicated, presenting papers and attending international conferences online, and publishing papers in recognized SCOPUS-indexed Q1 and Q2 journals. Some studies even focused on pedagogy methods adopted during the pandemic itself.
CACE research clusters and center concentrate in areas ranging from digital fabrication to art, architecture and cultural heritage supporting a wide range of interdisciplinary projects from CACE faculty, other Colleges at Zayed University and outside institutions. The research and creative culture in CACE is a vibrant one, embracing a diversity of approaches and outcomes and continues to expand as the College grows.
Research at CACE spans a wide range of disciplines and mediums, from artwork explorations based on mixed media (Mona Ayyash) to drawing illustration (Stefan Messam), painting (Tala Atrouni, Naz Shahrokh, Kelly Devrome, Katarzyna Dzikowska, Maria Luisa Menano), sculpture (Afra Al Dhaheri, Asma Belhamar), multimedia (Isaac Sullivan, Omair Faizullah), photography (Ioannis Papavasileiou), animation (Malak Quota), ceramics (Katarzyna Tracz), printmaking (Joshua Watts, Salama Nasib), graphic design (Tina Sleiman, Zena Adhami, Sarah AlSeikhan, Alanood Bukhammas, Antoine Abi Aad, Jacqueline Soghman), and Letterpress (David Howarth). Subjects of exploration at CACE range from local and regional modern heritage (Oorvi Sharma, Ilze Ekisa, Roberto Fabbri, Adina Hempel, Lina Ahmad, Asma Bukhammas, Azza Aboualam, Francesca Sorcinelli, Marco Sosa), to intangible heritage in the region (Martin Nixon, Kara McKeowm, Moya Goosen, Willem Venter, Marie-Claire Bakker, Francesca Bacci), digital fabrication and robotics (Lina Ahmad, Basem Mohamed, Thorsten Lomker), and most recently, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and Generative AI in the creative studio (Rund Hiyasat, Peter Chanthanakone, Richard Cawood, Maruan Halabi).
Funding for research and creative endeavors comes from various sources, including Zayed University’s own research office through RIF grants, Start-Up grants, and Research Cluster grants. Additionally, some research grants and funds are obtained externally from entities such as the UAE’s Ministry of Culture and Youth, The Smithsonian Institute, Manarat Sadiyaat, Dubai Design District, DP World, and the Abu Dhabi Music Art Foundation (ADMAF) whom have significantly contributed to the development of creative projects at CACE over the past decade.
Zayed University encourages collaborative research with external entities and international institutions. Examples include partnerships with The Smithsonian Institute, The Italian Embassy in the UAE, Dubai Design Week, Ras Al Khaimah Art, Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT), The UAE’s Ministry of Culture and Youth, Sharjah Art Foundation, Art Dubai, Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff University, Italian International School, istituto Marangoni, ADEK, MIT, Make Abu Dhabi, The Bait Al Naboodah, Abu Dhabi Art, Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE University, Dubai Culture, Art Jameel, SIKKA art fair, Tashkeel, Environmental Agency, and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
The following is a small selection from the whole research and creative output from our faculty from the past four years;
-
Roberto Fabbri was awarded a AKPIA Post Doc Fellowship position for one semester at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 2024
-
Afra Al Dhaheri completed a successful solo exhibition “GIVE YOUR WEIGHT TO THE GROUND” at the exclusive Green Art Gallery, Dubai, 2024
-
Naz Shahrokh completed a successful solo exhibition at the exclusive XVA Gallery, Dubai, Be Fekret Hastam, 2024
-
Afra Al Dhaheri was awarded a fellowship at the prestigious International Summer Program at The Watermill Center / Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation where she exhibited her mixed media installation Tangle, Untwist, REWIND - Sweat For Years To Come at The Watermill Center, New York, NY, 2023
-
Isaac Sullivan published a chapter “Chyron: Grammar of Simultaneity”, in the in the book, Future Perfect, printed by Kaph Books, 2023
-
Rund Hiyasat published her paper “VR and AR Application in Academia, Overview in the Middle East Universities”, 2023
-
Kara McKeowm published her paper “The challenges of EMI for art and design students in the UAE Published”, 2023
-
Martin Nixon published a his book "Architecture, Opportunity, and Conflict in Eighteenth-Century Sicily. Rebuilding after Natural Disaster" through Amsterdam University press, 2023
-
Tala Atrouni, Ioannis Papavasileiou and Omair Faizullah exhibited their Creative output at the prestigious Florence Biennale where professor Faizullah was honored with the "Lorenzo il Magnifico" International Award for New Media Art. 2023
-
Ioannis Galanopoulos exhibited his creative work at the Prestigious Numismatic Museum in Greece, 2023
-
Basem Mohammed published his paper “Mass customization of housing- A framework for harmonizing individual needs with factory produced housing” in MDPI, 2022
-
Rund Hiyasat, Lina Ahmad and Marco Sosa published a topical paper “Use of work-space at home under COVID-19 conditions in the UAE: The study assesses user satisfaction of workspaces modified at home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby analyzing the flexibility of modern homes in the twenty-first century in the United Arab Emirates. 2022
-
Roberto Fabbri published his paper; “The Contextual Linkage: Visual metaphors and analogies in recent Gulf museums’ architecture “ in the Journal of Architecture, 2022
-
Marie Claire-Baker, Stefan Messam, David Howarth, Naz Shahrokh, Adina Hempel, Lina Ahmad, Marco Sosa presented their research and creative work as part of the United Arab Emirates: Living Landscape | Living Memory exhibition, a program at the 56th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The National Mall, Washington DC. Their work centered around Emirati modern art expression, modern architectural heritage, intangible heritage and traditional crafts. 2022
-
Katarzyna Dzikowska completed a successful solo exhibition at the exclusive Polish Art Association gallery, Warsaw, Poland and production of the exhibition publication Monograph 'This Curtails" published by the Polish Art Association and collaboration from ZU research office. 2022
-
Azza Aboualam published her paper “From Coral to Concrete: Mosques in Sharjah” on the AA Files 78. This article focused on documenting and celebrating the architectural design of mosques in the emirate of Sharjah that have been built before 1970 and comparing them to the current mosque designs of the emirate. 2021
-
Afra Al Dhaheri completed a successful solo exhibition “Split Ends” at the exclusive Green Art Gallery, Dubai, 2021
-
Roberto Fabbri with Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi co-edited the book Urban modernity in the contemporary Gulf- Obsolescence and opportunities. Marco Sosa and Lina Ahmad, also contributed with a chapter “Urban portraits- Preserving the memory of modern architectural heritage in the United Arab Emirates”, 2021
-
Kara McKeowm published “Expatriate faculty and student perspectives on teaching and learning in a United Arab Emirates university”, 2021
-
Karim Musfy, Marco Sosa and Lina Ahmad published their paper titled The Public Interior Space Within Louvre Abu Dhabi Dome: A Visual Reflection. In the SCOPUS indexed journal Interiority, 2021
-
Marie-Claire Bakker and Kara McKeowm published “From Cradle to Grave: A Life Story in Jewelry”, in "All Things Arabia" by Brill Publishing in 2020
-
Lina Ahmad, Marco Sosa and Musfy Musgy Published “Interior Design Teaching Methodology During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic” charting teaching under Covid-19 pandemic conditions. 2020
-
Tina Sleiman published her book “Picturing Arab Youth at the Turn of the 21st Century: Ali Chamseddine” through Journal of International Children’s Literature. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2020
