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| Dome, Khosrow Hassanzadeh, 2012, Ardnt at Art Dubai 2012, Photo by Siddarth Siva |
The Middle East’s largest contemporary art fair attended by 22,500
UAE-based, regional and international guests, including curators,
collectors, gallerists, artists, and 75 museum groups
Now in its sixth year, Art Dubai’s mature roster of participating
galleries has reached out to the arts scenes of East Asia, widening the
fair’s existing reach across the MENASA region, Europe and the Americas,
underscoring its role as a site of discovery. The impressive line-up of
75 galleries generated sales from international and regional
institutions as well as established and first-time collectors.
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| His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum visits Art Dubai 2012, Courtesy Art Dubai 2012 |
For 2012, new names such as Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Arndt, The Pace
Gallery and Alexander Gray Associates brought museum-quality artworks to
Art Dubai alongside returning gallery heavyweights, the majority of
which experienced strong sales, with Jeddah’s Athr Gallery selling out
within half an hour of the fair’s exclusive Jumeirah Patron’s Preview on
Tuesday, March 20. The fair also welcomed five galleries from
Indonesia as part of its Marker section, curated by Alia Swastika.
“Now six years old, Art Dubai has a new maturity. In 2012, we reached
out beyond our established base in the Middle East and South Asia,
building new links for both the local arts scene and our visiting
galleries, recognizing that it’s fundamental to always bring new blood
into the fair,” said Antonia Carver, Fair Director, Art Dubai. “Looking
ahead, we are aiming to develop our relationship with the African
contemporary arts scene, reflecting on existing cultural links and
shared histories.”
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| Marker curator Alia Swastika at Biasa Art Space, Courtesy Art Dubai 2012 |
Art Dubai 2012’s ambitious offering of artists’ projects and dynamic
programming generated a wealth of interest from an increasingly diverse
audience base. The fair was opened by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and visited by Art Dubai’s
patron, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the
UAE and Ruler of Dubai. HH Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum inaugurating the fair’s Ladies’ Day.
As a meeting point for some of the greatest minds of the art world, Art
Dubai 2012 generated thought-provoking cultural discussion with the
esteemed Art+Auction magazine referring to the fair as the ‘Davos summit
of the art world’. This year, the fair played a key role in cultivating
the intrinsic link between debate and artistic practice during the
six-day Global Art Forum directed by writer and curator Shumon Basar,
exploring the theme of ‘The Medium of Media’ and adding a series of
commissioned research, exhibition and publishing projects to the
programme.
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| Douglas Coupland, Shumon Basar, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Global Art Forum 2012, Courtesy Art Dubai 2012 |
For 2012, Art Dubai also introduced a more intimate series of
presentations called Terrace Talks, which featured discussions with Los
Angeles County Museum of Art’s Michael Govan; Melissa Chiu, director of
the Asia Society Museum; collector and patron Richard Chang; Lekha and
Anupam Poddar of the Devi Foundation; and Chinese performance artist
Zhang Huan, among an inspiring array of speakers.
“Art Dubai is a fair firmly rooted in the Middle East which has become a
progressively global cultural platform. Going forward, we’ll be
nurturing ongoing initiatives such as the Arabic Art Glossary being
developed by Lara Khaldi, announced during this year’s Global Art Forum,
in addition to year-round programmes including artists’ and
curator-in-residence programmes and monthly education seminars. We hope
these institutional elements will act as further catalysts, contributing
to the arts and cultural infrastructure of the UAE and the wider
region,” added Carver.
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