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TECTONIC brings together a diverse pool of artists working seamlessly across mediums and disciplines, contextualizing their approaches and identifying the new direction of art in a climate of rapid change, capturing the sense of urgency that is redefining contemporary art and laying the groundwork for its future. The approximately 300 multimedia artworks range from installation, performances, sculpture, video, sound, digital and painting will be on show in a 15,000 square foot venue at the DIFC. Working closely with the artists over ... the past year, The Moving Museum has developed solo presentations for each artist that offers a comprehensive snapshot of their practice as a whole.

The Moving Museum has drawn on a network of international curatorial advisors to assemble the artist shortlist for TECTONIC. Composed of renowned experts from various disciplines, these advisors establish an ongoing source for independent advice from across the globe. In this way, The Moving Museum is led by the spirit of collaborative exchange and the artwork on exhibit reflects the spirit of the time, establishing a platform for artistic voices rather than curatorial opinions.

The exhibition is set against the backdrop of Dubai. Born out of the aspirations of the new century, the city has undergone its own tectonic transformation, establishing itself as an important cultural hub in the Middle East, while experiencing mammoth fluctuations in financial fortunes, landscape and population growth within a short period of time. TECTONIC's presence in Dubai allows for a global gathering of compatible concerns that aims to raise questions, spark dialogues and respond to the particularities of a new environment.

The accompanying education programme will offer local, regional and international audiences the opportunity to engage with the artists beyond the parameters of the exhibition. With an aim to connect with Dubai's budding arts scene, The Moving Museum is collaborating with local non-profit spaces Traffic, Pavilion and Shelter, to host a series of outreach events connected to the exhibition including film screenings, talks, workshops and site-specific projects.

Michael Rakowitz will extend his renowned project Enemy Kitchen to Dubai, under another name: Dar Al Sulh, or Domain of Conciliation, which will set up a pop-up restaurant serving his grandmothers cooking recipies in Traffic in the centre of Dubai's industrial Al-Quoz.

Holton Rower will perform on the opening night by letting loose his seminal work Falling Money Chain which sees tens of thousands of US dollar bills cascade to the floor for 8 minutes. New York and LA-based Internet artist Parker Ito is producing site-specific exhibits from his series The Agony and The Ecstasy and Paris-based Ivan Argote is showing a selection of his iconic iPhone interventions as well as producing a new body of work in Dubai. The support of the British Council has enabled the presence of three British artists to attend, Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq, James Capper and Iranian artist Soheila Sokhanvari who will run a workshop as well as participate in a panel talk at Art Dubai co-organized by education partner Caspian Arts Foundation.

'It is important that Dubai presents the backdrop to the exhibition. Despite the fluctuating turns that dominate the city's persona, Dubai has spent the last decade attracting much of the region's young creatives and intellectuals. We wanted to connect with this audience, bringing important information and offer new ideas to a group of people that are shaping the Middle East and developing its future,' explains co-founder, Simon Sakhai.

''Although Dubai has some of the region's most international and progressive audiences, it does not yet have a contemporary art museum. This lack of an institutional infrastructure and the obvious demand for this kind of exhibition made Dubai the perfect choice for our first show,' explains co-founder, Aya Mousawi.