The 17th iteration of the Art Dubai fair, one of the biggest cultural events in the Middle East that brings galleries and artists from the MENA region together, will be held from March 1 to March 3, 2024. Taking place at the Madinat Jumeirah, the fair will present 120 galleries from 40+ countries. It will also include new commissions, lectures, public talks including the annual Global Art Forum, the largest arts conference in the Middle East and Asia (this year, it will explore how extreme weather transforms fronts in the social, scientific and cultural spheres), workshops, and many other exciting activities you surely do not want to miss.
The galleries taking part in Art Dubai will be divided into four main sections. The first one, Art Dubai Contemporary Gallery, will give visitors a global insight into what is being created by different artists from across the globe right now. It will feature 70+ galleries.
Courtesy of the artist and Custot Gallery.
Curated by Emiliano Valdés (Chief Curator of the Medellin Museum of Modern Art in Colombia), the second section, Bawwaba, will display artworks by creatives from the Global South. Here, one will see ten solo exhibitions that showcase art pieces produced within the past year or specifically for Art Dubai. Their pieces on view explore the notion of healing from different points of view: not only on a personal and spiritual level but also through the lens of society, history, and politics.
Courtesy of AVAF.
The Art Dubai Modern section will present works by Middle Eastern, African, and South Asian artists who were active after 1960. Examining the impact the Cold War had on the art of the Global South, it will focus on connections formed in this period between artists from the region and the former USSR. On display will be art pieces by Samuel Kakaire (Uganda), Chandraguptha Thenuwara (Sri Lanka), and Hakim Al Akel (Yemen); all three of them pursued their art education in the Soviet Union. The Art Dubai Modern section is curated by Christianna Bonin (Assistant Professor of Art History at the American University of Sharjah).
Courtesy of Saskia Fernando Gallery.
In the Art Dubai Digital section, visitors will find artworks that predict new themes, trends, and formats in digital art through different media: digital video, AR, VR, extended reality, AI, robotic art, and immersive art experiences. Curators of the section are Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti, co-directors of IAM-Infinity Art Museum (the first ever-evolving art museum in the Metaverse). They also founded Multiplicity-XXnft, a curatorial, publishing, and selling platform dedicated to female artists who work with NFT and crypto arts.
Courtesy of Ivona Tau.
Art Dubai 2024 will also incorporate Encounters, a group show by Dubai Collection, the city’s first institutional collection of modern and contemporary art built in collaboration with patrons supporting the initiative through a loan system. Curated by Alia Zaal Lootah, the exhibition will display works by Emirati artists from several generations who worked and work in a full range of styles, such as Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Baya, Afra Al Dhaheri, and Abdul Qader Al Rais, to name a few.
Those planning to attend Art Dubai 2024 with children may rest assured that their young art lovers will not get bored. As part of the event, the A.R.M. Holding Children’s Programme will hold a series of thrilling drop-in workshops for kids. Indian artist Sahil Naik chosen for the 2024 edition of the programme titled Worlds in a Box will take participants through a journey of creation drawing inspiration from the built environment. Focusing on ecology and nature, the workshops will ask the little attendees to try answering a question: how do they imagine future cities, and what will they incorporate? Besides, at the Art Dubai 2024, there will be a special Creative Play Area for children.
To learn more about the Art Dubai 2024 fair, please visit its official website.
You may also be interested in visiting A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose by Mandy El-Sayegh.
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