The sixth edition of Art Dubai opens on March 21, but the buzz has already begun. This year, as part of its education programme, the art fair has organised a series of free seminars on art and design at The Pavilion, Downtown Dubai. The latest seminar in this series, held on January 15, was on the subject of gallery management.
The event drew a full house. And the audience listened with rapt attention as Sunny Rahbar from The Third Line Gallery, Jam Jar's Hetal Pawani and Asma Al Shabibi from Lawrie Shabibi Gallery shared their personal experiences of running an art gallery in Dubai. The three gallery owners spoke about various aspects of gallery management, ranging from building relationships with artists to the logistics of organising an art exhibition. And afterwards, they answered questions from the audience.
The seminars are mainly aimed at art students and young people who are interested in a career in art, design, event management or communications. But there were many others in the audience who found this seminar useful, such as interior decorator Vanessa Tarantino. "I am from Mauritius and moved to Dubai just two months ago. I have always been interested in art and after seeing the art boom in this city, I have started dreaming of opening a gallery to promote artists from my country. This seminar was absolutely inspirational. These women had no background in art, but they followed their passion. Listening to them has given me the confidence to pursue my dream," she said.
Emirati artist Khameis has the same dream. "I am from Fujairah and feel sad that there is no gallery there. I want to open a gallery that can promote the many talented artists on the east coast. Apart from getting practical advice on gallery management, I also came here to network with the local art community," he said.
Dr Qinza Najm's motive was different. "I am a doctor, but I am also an artist and want to have an exhibition of my work. I recently moved to Dubai from the United States and do not know anybody here. I had a lot of questions but did not know whom to ask. So this was a fantastic platform to freely ask questions and get answers instantly from experienced art professionals," she said.
Young Emirati artist Khowla Darwish echoed the sentiment. "I am interested in being represented by a gallery, and from this seminar I have learnt not to be diffident and to just go out and meet all the galleries," she said.
The experience was equally rewarding for the speakers. "I loved the questions and am glad that we were able to give valuable knowledge to aspiring artists and gallerists. It was nice to be able to speak openly about the issues we face and our experiences and learnings. As a gallery owner and art consultant, this was a great opportunity for me to meet students, artists from the community, art agents, art writers, members of Art Dubai and a lot of other interesting people," Pawani said.
Another part of Art Dubai's educational activities that has already generated a lot of excitement is the internship programme, which offers art students, graduates and anybody else who is interested a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience of organising an art fair. Shani Ireland, who manages the Art Week Education Programme, said: "This year, our internship programme is much more structured, with three-month internships at the Art Dubai office before the fair, along with onsite internships during the event. We already have interns at our office, who are learning every aspect of managing an art fair by assisting in different departments."
Lena Farouki is among these interns. The young Palestinian, who grew up in Abu Dhabi, has studied management and communications and has worked in advertising. "I decided to apply for internship because I am interested in art and I know that it is not easy to break into this industry, especially if you do not have an art background. I am enjoying the experience and am learning so much. It is amazing to see everything that goes on behind the scenes to make an art fair happen. This experience is invaluable and has given me a solid background for a career in the creative field," she said.
Farah Al Sharif has chosen to focus on public relations. The Mass Communications and Journalism graduate from Saudi Arabia is enjoying assisting with the press releases and helping promote the fair through Twitter and Facebook.
Dutch artist Martin Pakvis, 46, feels that interning at Art Dubai is an opportunity to broaden his vision as an artist and extend his network. "It is also a pleasant change to work in a team rather than working alone in my studio. And it will help my art practice because it has given me a good insight into how the art world works on the organisational and curatorial side," he said.
Closer to the event, Art Dubai will need more interns to, for example, help the participating galleries at their booths, work with artists to install their projects, look after the arrangements for the Global Art Forum, take care of VIP guests and museum groups, organise collectors' tours, man the information desk, handle media and communications, and coordinate travel arrangements. Art Dubai also needs interns for the Sikka Art Fair in Bastakiya, the newly launched Design Days Dubai, and other events that run alongside the art fair.
"We welcome everybody who is interested in being part of this programme and try to assign them areas that match their interests and skill sets. We are looking for people who have a passion for art or event management and are committed. And we are looking for professionalism, because often these interns could be the primary contact between the fair and a gallery or collector. Since we have galleries and visitors from around the globe, we need people who know different languages and have good communication skills," Ireland said.
The response to the programme has been excellent, with 300 applications already received, out of which about 80 will be selected. Recruitment will continue up to mid-March. A seminar held in early December, to introduce the internship programme to the community, attracted a large and eclectic audience. Besides art students and fresh graduates, there were also people with full-time jobs who attended. Andre Amalar, an art director with an advertising agency, was one of them. "I come from Brazil. It is a big country with established systems and it is not easy to get into different things. But in Dubai I get this sense that everything is so accessible. I like art and wanted to explore the possibility of being involved in this event in the limited time that I can spare from my job. I am happy to know that I can be of help as an interpreter for some Brazilian galleries that are participating in the design fair," he said.
For youngsters who are interested in a career in art, interning at Art Dubai offers a great opportunity to interact with local and international gallery owners, museum directors, faculty from art institutions, curators and collectors. And many interns have benefited in terms of getting jobs or a chance to exhibit their work abroad. In fact, Art Dubai itself has offered jobs to some of the interns.
Saudi Arabian artist Hala Ali, who recently joined Art Dubai, interned two years ago while she was a student of Fine Arts at University of Sharjah. "As an intern, I helped in the masterworks section, where I learnt a lot about modernist art and artists from the region, and about communicating with people from different backgrounds and nationalities. I also worked with artists' projects, where I got the amazing opportunity to help one of my favourite artists install her piece. The nice thing about a fair like this is that you get to meet people who are otherwise inaccessible. I had some great conversations with some of the most important people in the art world. I also benefited as an artist from the understanding of the industry that I gained by working behind the scenes. So I am very excited to work for Art Dubai as the global art forum assistant," she said.
Victoria Gandit Lelandais is also a former-intern-turned-employee. Lelandais is from France and graduated in archaeology and art history from the Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi. She is looking forward to assisting the fair director of the Sikka Art Fair, which features Emirati and UAE-based artists. "As an intern I enjoyed working in every department and deciding what I liked most was really difficult. But I feel that, with my art history background and specialisation in contemporary Middle Eastern art, I can really contribute at Sikka. I am looking forward to helping the artists with the installation of special projects, organising tours and workshops and making other arrangements in Bastakiya, which is such a special area. Art Dubai is much more than a commercial art fair and it is exciting to be involved in promoting local artists and the local art scene through my job," she said.
Art Dubai director Antonia Carver was herself involved in organising many of the fair's educational programmes before taking over as director. "Since there are few art education institutions in the UAE, we feel it is our responsibility to offer informal education programmes to the community. Through our non-commercial events, we aim to educate the local community about art, develop their interest in art and create a platform where students, graduates and all art enthusiasts can exchange ideas and gain insight into the region's art scene. This year, we have expanded the Art Week Education Programme to engage the broadest community within the UAE," she said.
Jyoti Kalsi is an art enthusiast based in Dubai.
