Art Dubai
In what has suddenly become the biggest event on the Dubai arts calendar – Art Dubai (formerly the Gulf Art Fair) is the event where Middle Eastern mega bucks collide with the global art industry.
Between 19-22 March, over 80 galleries from around the world will gather amidst the mosaic floors, wind towers and palm trees at the at the Madinat Jumeirah, a sprawling Arabian themed hotel, theatre, restaurant and shopping complex on the shores of the Persian Gulf. In its second year Art Dubai seeks to replicate the success of its debut and build on the growing interest of the global arts community in exploiting the wealth of the Persian Gulf region. Art Dubai brings together galleries from Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East region to Dubai for a high end art supermarket.
John Martin, the Director of Art Dubai said that the focus of the festival reflected Dubai’s growing influence as a regional and global centre for business and the arts.
“Emphasis will be placed on galleries from the emerging markets of the Middle East, South and Central Asia and the Far East, showing alongside established international galleries from the West,” Martin noted. “As Art Dubai, we are proud to be able to contribute towards Dubai’s growing significance as an international cultural hub.”
The galleries showing at the exhibition have been selected from 350 applicants for Art Dubai 2008 and will include galleries such as Max Lang (New York), Albion (London), Gallery Chemould (Mumbai), The Third Line (Dubai), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano), SCAI The Bathhouse (Tokyo), Galerie Sfeir-Semler (Hamburg and Beirut), Gallery Espace (New Delhi), Galerie Thomas (Munich), Sundaram Tagore (New York), Kashya Hildebrand (Zurich) and MAM Mario Mauroner (Austria).
Global Arts Forum
Held for a second time alongside Art Dubai will be the Global Art Forum, a five day event held in conjunction with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) from March 17 – 21 that will examine issues ranging between art, society, business and public art and curatorial practices. Reflecting the wider role of Art Dubai a commercial marketplace for art, the Forum has a strong focus on the art business. The Forum includes art industry figures such as Glenn Lowry, the Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Curator and former director of Documenta 10, Catherine David and artists such as Britain’s Anish Kapoor, France’s Daniel Buren and China’s Ai Wei Wei.
According to Martin, the Forum will explore the funding of arts in the public and private sector through a series of lectures and debates, including ‘Art and Patronage in the Business Age’ and forums examining the role of art in political and social transformations.
“A critical theme running through Global Art Forum: 2 is the development of art initiatives through partnerships with businesses and private individuals,” Martin stated. “The Forum will examine public support for the arts, corporate and private collecting and art patronage from a regional and international perspective.”
Fringe Fair
While making a purchase at Arts Dubai might normally require the bank account of a oil-rich sheik, or Russian oligarch, for the rest of who are more likely to be driving a Renault than a Rolls Royce, the second Creek Art Fair (CAF) will be held concurrently to Art Dubai between 15 – 31 March. Hosted by the epicentre of Dubai’s emerging contemporary art practice, XVA Gallery, the Creek Art Fair will take art to the narrow pedestrian streets of Dubai’s historic Bastakiya area with a fair that focuses on young and emerging artists from the region.
In addition to the street markets planned for the CAF, Alef Magazine will host a contemporary art auction ‘Alef’s Art Mezze’ in conjunction with auctioneers Phillips de Pury & Company (PdP) featuring a range of regional and international artists including Istanbul based sculptor Esma Pacal Turam, New York sound artist Jay Battle and the Dubai based Abbas Akhavan.
