Kanvas, a multifunctional art gallery, workshop, and incubator that promises to add a revolutionary dimension to Dubai’s vibrant art and creative scene, has opened in the city’s cultural district, Al Quoz 1.

Founded by an experienced group of European creatives and visionaries with a long-held interest in interactive technology, kanvas is a multi-sensory hub for innovation and exploration with a boundary-pushing focus on fusing art with technology at its core.

A must-visit for seasoned art aficionados and contemporary culture vultures alike, kanvas pioneers an ambitious, electronically ‘plugged in’ approach to art.

At the specially designed 200sqm open space, technology meets the imagination; artists and creatives use cutting-edge equipment – audiovisual apparatus backed up by media servers, state-of-the-art light effects, custom electronics and holography – to produce transformative, fully immersive installations.

As well as housing a year-round collection, kanvas will run a program of digital art exhibitions and experiential workshops from all over the world.

The first of these, the globally-renowned and critically acclaimed Lighthouse, opens to the public on the 16th November. Curated by the internationally revered 3D artist and video mapping specialist Laszlo Zsolt Bordos, Lighthouse demonstrates the way in which the energy of light can be harnessed with a series of seven awe-inspiring installations that together deliver a collective cultural experience set to astound and inspire.

With a commitment to talent incubation at its core, kanvas is as much about creating new art as it is showcasing it. The kanvas Workshop is a place of collaboration and possibility, where local artists and creatives are invited to embrace the art-tech movement and create human-focussed, new media art-led experiences without boundaries or limitation.

Balint Tordai, co-founder, kanvas, commented: “Building on the success of our work at the Hungarian Pavilion at Expo 2020, many museums in the UAE, kanvas is the physical realisation of a shared dream to shake up the regional art world. With kanvas we’ve deliberately set out to bring something entirely new to the table and highlight the incredible depth and possibility that plugged-in art affords both the artist and the observer.

We are hugely excited for what the future will bring and look forward to collaborating with like-minded artists, creatives, individuals, and groups to produce groundbreaking art and unforgettable experiences.”