Middle East's biggest art fest is back

Despite the lingering effects of the global recession, this year could be a watershed for the region's art market, believe organisers of the annual Art Dubai fair.

John Martin, Director and Co-Founder of the event, says visitors can expect to be wowed both by the quality and quantity on offer, with a wider range of artworks from more galleries than ever at the fair, which opens to the public tomorrow and runs until Saturday at Madinat Jumeirah.

"The international art market is riding high following robust auction results and spectacularly successful sales at the Armory Show in New York, the barometer of market sentiment for the important US market," he tells Emirates Business in an e-mail interview ahead of the event.

"The confidence in the art market worldwide is beginning to be felt at home with collectors seeing the region offering exceptional quality at comparatively low prices and an unprecedented opportunity to expand existing collections," he says.

"Every day, we are notified of more and more private and museum collectors booking to come to Art Dubai from around the world. Combined with the exceptional work on display, I am confident that this year's fair will be a turning point in the fortunes of the region's art market."|

Seventy-one galleries from 31 countries will be present at the event, with more than 500 artists represented, including 30 in single-artist, solo exhibitions. And with four days of talks, performances and film screenings, Martin says Art Dubai 2010 has the most extensive programme the event has seen in its four years.

"Every year the fair changes completely," he says.

"Visitors expect us to be innovative. Each aspect is reconsidered and reinvented. This year, a completely redesigned layout of the galleries gives visitors a more relaxed experience."

One such innovation is a greater emphasis on solo exhibitions so collectors have a greater understanding of the work of individual artists in artist-focused stands.

Up to a quarter of the galleries at the event are exhibiting in this format, offering visitors a progression in a specific artist's work over time, creating a greater sense of depth and meaning rather than a quick snapshot of several artists represented by the gallery. Among those artists being treated in this way are modern Indian and Egyptian masters such as MF Hussain and Adel El Siwi as well as more up-and-coming artists from Korea, Chile, Peru, Spain and Sudan. A total of 25 new galleries are exhibiting at the fair this year.

"We have three galleries from South America, Contrasts from China and Sun, Lee Hwaik and Hyundai from Korea. Pakistani art is well represented with Grey Noise, Gandhara-art and Rossi and Rossi presenting a solo show of Naiza Khan. I am a big fan of the Nessim and Viltin galleries from Budapest and Dea Orh from Prague," says Martin.

Galleria Continua is featuring major new work by Lebanese artist Mona Hatoum and October Gallery will present one of [the Ghanian artist] El Anatsui's most significant new works, the immense In the World but don't know the World.

Finally, Martin says look out for the work of Aboriginal artist, Tommy Watson, presented by Agathon Galleries from Sydney.

Access for all

Meanwhile, Bidoun Projects, the not-for-profit curatorial wing of arts organisation and publisher Bidoun, will continue its partnership with Art Dubai with an extensive line-up of art events and exhibitions at the fair to support the region's artists.

A key feature will be the Bidoun Projects exhibition, A New Formalism, which takes as its starting point the subtle articulation of four works that share a space.

"The exhibition will complement the rest of the programme, which looks at the spectacular and temporal nature of art fairs.

"A New Formalism brings together a precise selection of works by Hazem El Mestikawy, Iman Issa, Mahmoud Khaled and the collective U5 that together pose an expanded understanding of formalism," says Antonia Carver, Director, Bidoun Projects. "It is destined to be one of this year's highlights," says Martin.

Art Park, the converted car park underneath the galleries at Madinat Jumeirah, returns for the third year at Art Dubai and will foster discussion with a range of talks and performances.

Film programmes curated by Bidoun Projects and guest curators Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Aram Moshayedi, and duo Özge Ersoy and Sohrab Mohebbi will be screened at the event.

Multidisciplinary UAE artist and writer Ebtisam Abdul-Aziz will display a new work, specially commissioned by Bidoun Projects for the fair, outdoors at Art Dubai, in which she will re-imagine a map of the Arab World according to a set of numerical codes.

The fair also attempts to reach young people through a series of creative and educational opportunities. As part of Art Dubai's CSR venture Start, talented children and teenagers will have a chance to work alongside practising artists such as Emirati designer Noor Al Khaja and graffiti artist Mohammed Ali, also known as AerosolArabic, with a wide range of workshops that cover photography, graffiti, design and large-scale drawing.

Also on show will be artworks created by the winners of the 2010 Abraaj Capital Art Prize, among them are History of a Myth: The Small Dome of the Rock by artist Kader Attia and curator Laurie Ann Farrell; Myths & Legends Room: The Mural by artist Hala Elkoussy and curator Jelle Bouwhuis; and The Feast of the Damned by artist Marwan Sahmarani and curator Mahita El Bacha Urieta.

Finally, jewellery major Van Cleef & Arpels is presenting a mesmerising display of its greatest jewellery and watches, including the chance to see its master watchmaker in action.

The Poetry of Time is a journey into the century-old brand will explore its legacy and legend, through archives, family photographs, advertisements and original drawings.

High attendance

All of this, Martin says, will boost attendance at the event, which is designed to be accessible to all sectors of the community, from art professionals to first time visitors and young people.

"Art Dubai has successfully anchored itself in the city's consciousness and this year we are expecting to see record attendance figures, possibly as high as 25 per cent up on last year," he says.

For buyers looking for trends, Martin refused to be drawn on movements or the kind of genres investors should be looking at.

"Indian art is hot; Middle Eastern art is white hot, South American and Australian art is on fire. Pakistani art is off the chart, and don't write off Western artists just yet," he says.

"The point is to come here and enjoy what you see and make your own discoveries; the best collectors collect great art they don't follow trends or get tied up."

n Tickets are now on sale, and cost Dh50. Call: 04 210 8567 or visit

TALKING ART

Running alongside Art Dubai is the Global Art Forum, which brings together leading arts professionals to discuss pressing issues that affect art today and that define its future.

Under the banner of Crucial Moments, this year's forum addresses the practical outcomes and theoretical concerns of key themes shaping our contemporary culture.

Supported by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the forum's four-day programme began in Doha on March 15 at the Museum of Islamic Art. The forum offers thought-provoking concepts, such as imagining an ideal future art school, exploring the global trend for temporary museums alongside intimate interviews with international superstar artists, including Indian painter MF Hussain and Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi.

From today through to Friday, the event returns to its home at Madinat Jumeirah complex for three more days of lively conversation.

Today's panel begins with a discussion centred on cultural practitioners who feature historical and archival aspects in their work. This panel, composed of top artists and curators, features 2010 Abraaj Capital Art Prize recipient Hala Elkoussy, whose winning project will be on display at Art Dubai.

The programme will also address an impending crisis in global arts writing, with international writers and editors exploring the very real challenges facing media today.

Meanwhile, in what promises to be an inspiring discussion, three of the original movers from the vibrant art scene of 1970s Tehran, Tony Shafrazi, Fereydoun Ave and Kamran Diba will reminisce about the days of artistic energy and innovation and the legacy they exert on today's generation of Iranian artists.

Day three, tomorrow, spotlights current trends in art patronage, with a keynote address entitled Building Regional Patronage in a Post-Crisis Moment by noted art patron Omar Ghobash, UAE's Ambassador to Russia.

Two other panels run tomorrow, dedicated to both public and private patronage, highlighting the latest patterns in collectors' markets from a global array of expertise including Maria Baibakova, Moscow; Dr Farhad Farjam, Dubai; Mohammed Afkhami, Dubai; Alistair Hicks, London; and Michael Danoff, New York.

The day also features a rare opportunity to witness the legendary sculptor El Anatsui discuss his astonishing work and career in an intimate conversation with curator Okwui Enwezor.

This is followed by an intriguing debate over perceptions of art in Palestine, a 'Palestine Syndrome', questioning how preconceptions and prejudices affect the region's art and how artists within the country relate to each other across geographical and ethnic divides.

The fourth and final day, Friday, starts with another Modernist moment, this time recalling the world of 1970s New York, when artists Vito Acconci, Dennis Oppenheim and Alice Aycock collaborated at 112 Green Street, a seminal space that pioneered performance and installation art practises.

Friday's programme revisits the notion of patronage, through a fascinating conversation with Don and Mera Rubell, regarded as two of the most prolific and prescient collectors of the past 40 years.

They are followed by a panel scrutinising the relationship between patrons and institutions, and how those relationships will shape the growth of museums in the Middle East over the next few years.

The 2010 Global Art Forum will conclude with a final presentation by 5000 Friends After the Rolodex, as Shumon Basar and Haig Aivazian discuss the outcomes of their performative mapping project.

What to look out for this year

A decisive decade 1966-1976 by Qatari-Indian artist MF Hussain, courtesy of Grosvenor Vadhera, London

70 Bananas in One Hour by Iranian painter HazalKhatibi, courtesy of the Aaran Gallery, Tehran

Bug War Over Two Blue Mountains by Kate Eric, courtesy of the Frey Norris Gallery, San Francisco

My Land Escapes by Iranian artist Ala Dehghan, courtesy of the Aaran Gallery, Tehran

Al Watan Al Arabi, The Arab Nation by Chant Avedissian, courtesy of the Rose Issa Gallery, London

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