When Is Art Dubai? Everything You Need To Know…
Reflecting the cosmopolitan identity of the city, with masterpieces from over 100 galleries and a new digital section, this year’s Art Dubai will prove exactly why it’s much more than just a fair…
Art has long been a powerful form of expression in the region. In Dubai’s younger years, as galleries were being established and neighbourhoods like Al Fahidi blossomed into cultural hubs, artists started having specific spaces where they could express their voices. But there was an even bigger dream in the works – to bring all these platforms together under one roof.
For over 15 years now, fairgoers and collectors from across the globe have seen Art Dubai grow as a place to celebrate trends, discover old masters and emerging talent alike, and nurture conversations about the immense creativity hailing from the Global South. Each year, the platform showcases a curated selection of cultural masterpieces all in one place, cementing Dubai’s position as an international hub for innovation and as a large contributor to global dialogue on contemporary art.
Returning for its 15th edition on 11-13 March 2022 – and back at its original venue of Madinat Jumeirah after pandemic-related site changes in the previous year – Art Dubai 2022 will welcome over 100 exhibitors from 44 countries including more than 30 first-time participants.
“The last couple of years have been so challenging for so many, but especially the art scene which relies so heavily on physical events and platforms,” says Pablo del Val, Artistic Director of Art Dubai. “So, we’re really looking forward to welcoming new and old friends to the fair this year.”
Guests can expect to see freshly commissioned, site-specific works by well-established artists, a brand-new digital section dedicated to NFT art, group exhibitions and a talks programme, with the annual Global Art Forum taking centre-stage.
“We position ourselves as more than an art fair,” continues Pablo. “This edition’s talks include the Art Dubai Modern Talks and Byit Talks, the first in a series focused on the digital landscape from an art perspective.”
Art collective INLAND, represented by Madrid-born artist, Fernando García-Dory, has been commissioned by the fair to create a multi-site installation in locations across the city. Titled Sand Flow, the work brings together visions of Dubai’s past, present and future to examine the melting pot of cultures and communities that have laid the foundations of the emirate. The artwork will incorporate archaeology, hydrology, urbanism and transport, as well as the Middle East’s storytelling traditions, heritage and crafts.
The spotlight will also focus on Art Dubai’s Digital section, which will examine the rapid rise and growth of NFTs, cryptocurrency, virtual reality and video art since its beginnings in the early 1980s, when digital art first emerged. The space will feature 17 international galleries and platforms, and include presentations by some of the most innovative artists working in the digital space today. Expect names like Turkish-American new-media artist Refik Anadol, Uta Bekaia and Denis Davydov of Tbilisi-based gallery, Window Project, as well as multi-artist presentations by Institut, Bright Moments, Fingerprints DAO, Postmasters, Emergeast and Cyber Baat.
“Art Dubai Digital will take a 360-degree look at the global digital landscape,” explains Pablo. Here, visitors will encounter COSMODREAMS, an interactive installation by Russian figurative painter, Marina Fedorova. The work – which combines traditional art and digital technologies in the form of large-scale paintings, sculptures, life-size objects and virtual reality with panels – explores the impact of technological advancements on our lives and built environments. An exhibition of NFTs made by 12 UAE-based and global artists who are participating in this year’s Campus Art Dubai will also be revealed.
The fair’s Modern section will coincide with three days of Art Dubai Modern Talks (10-12 March), held in collaboration with the Dubai Collection. The initiative will see renowned names in the art world – including Art Dubai Modern curator, Sam Bardaouil, Emirati curator, Munira Al Sayegh and Director of Middle Eastern, Islamic and South Asian Art at auction house Bonhams, Nima Sagharchi – join hands to shed light on the oeuvre, life and influences of 20th-century modern masters from the Middle East and North Africa.
“The fair is quickly gaining momentum and is now established as an important event in the global art calendar,” enthuses Pablo. “This year we will showcase a unique combination of the best international art, including pieces that will not have been seen anywhere else in the world. We have a vast number of galleries joining us from countries such as India, Peru, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Nigeria, Morocco, Switzerland, Philippines, Algeria and Pakistan.”
“The fair is quickly gaining momentum and is now established as an important event in the global art calendar”
Pablo del Val
Art Dubai will also debut a new exhibition commissioned by Abu Dhabi-based Warehouse421 and the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (SEAF). The show, curated by Maryam Al Dabbagh and interdisciplinary visual artist, Mays Albaik, will unveil a body of work spanning painting, textile, photography and video, to reflect a collective narrative of memory in relation to place, time and a sense of repetition and rhythm.
A cultural initiative that was once envisioned to bring art communities together, is now building them, too. There’s no doubt this will be Art Dubai’s most extensive, and exciting, edition to date – and the whole world is welcome.
For more information, visit artdubai.ae
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s March 2022 issue