“Spoon Spade Shovel” is a layered Youth Takeover of Dubai’s Jameel Arts Centre

Running from May 10th to June 2nd at Dubai’s  Jameel Arts Centre, the institution’s transitional spaces—lobbies, gardens, elevators, stairwells—are the site of Spoon Spade Shovel, an ambitious project led not by established curators, but by a cohort of emerging creatives, all under the age of 25.

This marks the sixth edition of the Youth Takeover, the outcome of The Assembly, Art Jameel’s annual talent development programme that invites young practitioners across the UAE to actively shape contemporary culture. The 2024-2025 Assembly members are Abrar Kebaili, Ayesha Fernandes, Desiree Barreto, Ioanna Orphanide, Jared Maxilom, Manal Nadeem, Omar Darwish, Sanjushrree Subash and Syed Haider. The programme was designed, curated and facilitated by Abhirami Suresh, Curatorial Projects Coordinator at Art Jameel, in collaboration with Nabeeha Sajjad, Communications Assistant at Art Jameel and alumnus of the 2023-2024 Assembly cohort.

The result is neither a conventional exhibition nor a fleeting event series, but something that lives between: a programme that integrates visual works, performances, workshops, and collaborative projects into the daily rhythms of the Centre.

Curated by the nine members of this year’s Assembly cohort, Spoon Spade Shovel approaches the act of making through the metaphor of tools—literal and conceptual. The title suggests function, process, and transformation—a spoon to stir, a spade to sift, a shovel to uncover. These tools frame the works as mechanisms for reflection and reinterpretation, rather than as static end-products.

The exhibition spans eight newly commissioned works alongside loaned pieces from regional and international artists, with media ranging from sound and video installations to participatory projects and text-based experiments whose contributions explore topics such as memory, environmental perception, linguistic identity, and digital culture.

Since its launch in 2018, The Assembly has grown into one of the UAE’s more forward-looking youth development platforms in the arts. A small cohort is selected each year through a competitive process of nominations and interviews. Throughout the programme, they attend seminars and workshops led by cultural practitioners, develop independent and group projects, and eventually co-curate the Takeover.

This year’s group reflects the UAE’s familiar diversity—not just in national backgrounds, but in disciplinary approach. The cohort includes designers, architects, poets, researchers and multimedia artists. They approach curation not as a job title, but as a collaborative process.

Much of the interest in Spoon Spade Shovel lies in how it extends beyond the gallery. Throughout the exhibition period, the Centre becomes an active site of making. On some days, there are sound-based performances, on others, workshops on urban movement, storytelling, or independent music production. A meme convention sits alongside poetry readings. Visitors are invited to engage not just with what’s on view, but with the conditions of its creation.

It’s an approach that encourages presence. Many of the events are ephemeral—durational performances, one-off sound pieces, or artist-led tours—and yet they contribute to the overall architecture of the Takeover as much as the physical artworks do.

The Youth Takeover doesn’t announce a generational shift or claim to reinvent the form. Instead, it introduces a quieter proposition: that art institutions can become more porous, more conversational, and more attuned to the processes behind the work. The Assembly cohort is not simply presenting a finished product; they offer a view into how creative ideas are researched, questioned, tested, and shared.

Spoon Spade Shovel may feel refreshingly unresolved for audiences accustomed to polished finality. It does not seek a conclusion; rather, it is a snapshot of emerging voices still in formation.