[Photo: Art Dubai Modern Gallery 7]
The 10th edition of the leading art fair of the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia attracted a record 27,516 visitors throughout the week, including capacity crowds of 5,142 during the collectors’ preview (an increase on last year) and a further increase to 7,211 during the VIP preview.
Among its record number of visitors, Art Dubai 2016 hosted international and regional artists, collectors, patrons and 95 international museums and institutions, including Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum, New York; London’s British Museum, V&A, Tate; among many others. Many museums brought groups of curators and patrons to the fair, taking advantage of Art Dubai’s extensive, Gulf-wide VIP programmes.
It was a successful fair for participating local, regional and international galleries with exceptional feedback on sales. Over 2000 attended the global art forum – the highest attendance to date. Nearly 1000 students visited the fair through the fair’s schools and colleges’ programme. And 560 children participated in the children’s Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program, a partnership between Art Dubai and The Cultural Office of Her Highness Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It featured artist Polly Brannan leading theatrical workshops for children aged 5-17.
[Photo: Art Dubai Modern, 2016, The Studio Dubai]
Held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who toured the fair during its Opening Night, the fair preview was inaugurated by the Crown Prince of Dubai, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, accompanied by, among others, HE Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development; HE Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, UAE Minister of Health and Chair of Dubai Culture; HE Hilal Al Marri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing; H.E. Saeed Al Nabouda, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority Acting Director General; HE Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA); HE Essa Kazim, Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Art Dubai is a joint venture between the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Middle East Fairs Ltd.
The popular Art Dubai Ladies Preview was opened by the children of HH Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of UAE Gender Balance Council, President of Dubai Women Establishment and wife of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Art Dubai 2016 was held in partnership with The Abraaj Group, who celebrated their inaugural Abraaj Week alongside the fair, and was sponsored by Julius Baer and Piaget. The fair took place at its home, Madinat Jumeirah. Maserati was the Automotive Partner of Art Dubai 2016. The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority is a strategic partner of Art Dubai and, along with Dubai Design District (d3), supports the fair’s year-round education programme.
Defying apparent market trends, Art Dubai saw solid sales from the VIP preview through to the last day, with around a quarter of galleries selling out, and the vast majority reporting healthy interest and acquisitions from a diverse collector base. Sales ranged from emerging artists under $10,000 through to works well beyond the $300,000 mark by artists such as Ai Wei Wei, Faiq Hassan, Yayoi Kusama, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Marwan, Nasreen Mohammedi, Jaume Plensa, among others.
[Photo: Art Dubai The Wedding Project]
Antonia Carver, Art Dubai’s Director said: “With our tenth edition, we’re looking forwards not back, embracing the potential of the UAE and the region’s arts scenes. The exceptional feedback received from collectors, galleries, artists, museums and curators and the ever-increasing attendance figures from both local and international audiences – from ever more diverse locations – illustrate the maturity of the fair and the crucial role it plays in both the wider region and the art world calendar.”
GALLERIES: CONTEMPORARY, MODERN AND MARKER
Art Dubai Contemporary’s two halls were dominated by large-scale installations and stand-out works by internationally acclaimed artists, presented alongside works by the most exciting emerging artists from the region. Art Dubai 2016 boasted the highest participation to date of galleries from the UAE, illustrating the growing strength of the local scene. Indian contemporary art was also well represented, with eight of the leading galleries from Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata taking part; Dubai’s role as an international hub for collectors, artists and galleries from South Asia is growing fast.
Across its wider programming, Art Dubai presented an extremely strong representation of female artists, particularly from the Middle East and South Asia region, with over 45 per cent of the artists participating in the fair being women.
Art Dubai Modern, the only exhibition of its kind worldwide, focusing on the masters of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, sponsored by Mashreq Private Banking for the third consecutive year, attracted particularly significant interest from international museum representatives. Comprised of solo and two-person exhibitions of museum-quality works from 1903 to the 1980s, the sector illustrated the development and artistic history of the region and the fast-growing market demand for these historical works.
Marker, Art Dubai’s thematic gallery programme, was curated this year by artist and writer Ringo Bunoan and featured works by emerging artists from artist-run spaces in Manila, the Philippines. Throughout the week, in this highly popular and dynamic section of the fair, artists established new connections and interest in their work, with sales of pieces by emerging and established artists from the Philippines–reasserting the fair as a site of discovery.
THE ABRAAJ GROUP ART PRIZE
Now in its eighth year, the Abraaj Group Art Prize is the most significant annual artists’ prize in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, and part of the Abraaj Group’s dedicated philanthropic support for both emerging and mid-career artists. The 2016 Abraaj Group Art Prize exhibition, curated by Nav Haq, was particularly well-received; it included a major new film commission awarded to Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, plus works by shortlisted artists Dina Danish, Mahmoud Khaled and Basir Mahmood.
[Photo: Mobile Variety Club, 2016, The Studio Dubai]
ART DUBAI PROJECTS & EDUCATION
Art Dubai’s not-for-profit programme, the largest programme of its kind in the world, included residencies, commissions, radio and film programmes, and new site-specific commissions by eight rising artists from the region. Curator of Art Dubai Projects 2016 Yasmina Reggad presented ambitious interventions throughout the fair, such as transforming the lower ground floor of Madinat Jumeirah into a Sleep Therapy Clinic by Emirati artist and musician Jumairy, which visitors could check into throughout the opening hours of the fair. Jumairy was one of a group of artists that has spent the past two months in-residence at Tashkeel through A.i.R (Artist in Residence) Dubai, a collaboration between Art Dubai, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Tashkeel and Delfina Foundation.
Fulfilling its aim to embrace the eclectic fabric and economy of an art fair, the Projects programme this year enabled visitors to become unknowing participants in a performance by Lydia Ourahmane, which used the hotel’s Wi-Fi network as a platform for a new video commission, realised on visitors’ own mobile phones. Additional highlights included performances by Doa Aly and Areej Kaoud that took place throughout the grounds of the fair and major new installations by Shreshta Rit Premnath and Massinissa Selmani.
The educational role the fair plays in the region also continues to grow: a revamped volunteers programme saw 123 young UAE-based enthusiasts involved in all aspects of the fair, while an expanded student programme welcomed over 1000 young people to the fair.
THE GLOBAL ART FORUM
The Global Art Forum, now established as the leading annual arts conference in Asia, attracted capacity audiences throughout its three-day run at Art Dubai with record attendance to date. Supported by Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Dubai Design District (d3), the Forum continues to consolidate its reputation as one of the world’s most innovative and eclectic talks programmes and, this year, under the title ‘The Future Was,’ hosted more than 50 speakers from across art, science, technology and architecture.
