Art Dubai () is an international art fair that takes place every March in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. Founded in 2007, Art Dubai is a major platform for art from the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, North Africa and South Asia. Each year, the fair features a globally diverse lineup of over 90 galleries from more than 40 different countries. Art Dubai attracted over 30,000 visitors in 2019, including UAE-based, regional and international collectors, curators, patrons, and nearly 100 visiting museums and institutions. Alongside its gallery halls, Art Dubai's extensive programming includes commissioned artists’ and curators’ projects, residencies, education initiatives and the Global Art Forum. Art Dubai 2016 Gallery Hall 1

Art Dubai is held under the patronage of Sheikh

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab ...

, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of

. The 2020 edition of Art Dubai went digital due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Art Dubai Contemporary

Art Dubai Contemporary features commercial galleries operating on the primary market that have been established for at least two years. Around 60 galleries are selected every year for Art Dubai Contemporary, from established galleries to younger art spaces from under-represented art capitals. Likewise, exhibited artists range from emerging practitioners to industry heavyweights. The works presented at the fair cover painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, video, photography and performance. Art Dubai Contemporary's Selection Committee includes Priyanka Raja (Experimenter, Kolkata), Isabelle van den Eynde (Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai),

Andrée Sfeir-Semler Andrée Sfeir-Semler (born 1953 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a German-Lebanese art historian and gallery owner. Her Sfeir-Semler Gallery has branches in Hamburg, Germany and Beirut, Lebanon, and both locations represent artists working in the field of ...

(Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg/Beirut) and Ursula Krinzinger (Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna).

Art Dubai Modern

Art Dubai Modern, established in 2014, is devoted to

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Each exhibitor presents a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

, two-person or multi-artist show, featuring works by modern art masters of the 20th century, with a focus on work produced between the 1940s and 1980s. Art Dubai Modern's advisory committee is composed of Dr Nada Shabout, professor of Art History and the coordinator of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Initiative (CAMCSI) at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

; Dr Iftikhar Dadi, associate professor in

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

's Department of History of Art and chair of its Department of Art; Catherine David, deputy director of

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...

, Paris; and Vali Mahlouji, curator, director of the Kaveh Golestan Estate, independent advisor to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and founder of the curatorial think tank Archaeology of the Final Decade.

Art Dubai Digital

The first edition of Art Dubai Digital, curated by Chris Fussner, occurred in 2022 in response to growing recognition of the value of artworks created with digital technology. The second edition in 2023 was curated by Clara Che Wei Peh and the 2024 edition was curated by Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti. Notable artists that have been exhibited at Art Dubai Digital include

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (born 1967 in Mexico City) is a Mexican-Canadian electronic artist living and working in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He creates platforms for public participation by using robotic lights, digital fountains, computerized survei ...

Manfred Mohr Manfred Mohr (born June 8, 1938 in Pforzheim/Germany) is a German artist considered to be a pioneer in the field of digital art. He has lived and worked in New York since 1981. Life and career Mohr started his career as an action painting, acti ...

, Sougwen Chung,

Refik Anadol Refik Anadol (born November 7, 1985) is a Turkish media artist and the co-founder of Refik Anadol Studio and Dataland. Recognized as a pioneer in the aesthetics of data visualization and AI arts, his work merges art, technology, science, and a ...

and Jonathan Monaghan.

Bawwaba

Art Dubai 2019 saw the launch of Bawwaba, a unique gallery section, located within the main gallery halls. The section featured projects by individual artists or galleries, located in or focused on the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia and Latin America. The inaugural edition of Bawwaba was curated by French-Cameroonian curator Élise Atangana, and focused on highly conceptual works including videos, installations and murals. The section aims to give visitors a curated reading of the Global South, acting, as its name suggests, as a gateway to current artistic developments from these regions.

The Global Art Forum

The Global Art Forum is the largest annual arts conference in the Middle East and Asia and takes place every year at Art Dubai. The conference features live talks, panel discussions and performances by regional and international thought leaders, artists, curators and writers such as Hans Ulrich Obrist,

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

and

Christo Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks a ...

. In 2018, the Global Art Forum was co-directed by Noah Raford and Marlies Wirth with Commissioner Shumon Basar and held under the title 'I Am Not a Robot', focusing on the timely theme of power, paranoia and potentials of automation. The 2019 iteration of Global Art Forum, on the theme "The School is a Factory?", was organized by Commissioner Shumon Basar, with Victoria Camblin and Fawz Kabra as co-directors.

Education

Art Dubai's non-for-profit educational programming, provides programmes for children through to post-graduates. Art Dubai's education initiatives include Campus Art Dubai, a community art school for UAE-based artists, curators, writers, designers and enthusiasts, and Forum Fellows, a fellowship that brings together young curators and writers from the Middle East. The fair also has an internship and volunteer programme.

Economic impact

In March 2016, the fairs’ parent company, Art Dubai Fair FZ LLC (The Art Dubai Group), released the results of an independent survey for Art Week 2015 (March 18–25, 2015). The results show that the total economic impact the Art Dubai and Design Days Dubai events have on the local economy and service sector totaled US$35 million across seven days.

References

External links

Art Dubai Website

Art Exhibitions and Events Dubai
{{Authority control 2007 establishments in the United Arab Emirates Annual fairs Arab art scene Art fairs Culture in Dubai Emirati art Fairs in the United Arab Emirates March Recurring events established in 2007 Spring (season) in the United Arab Emirates