Dubai: Art Dubai, the leading international platform for art and artists from the Middle East and the Global South, on Thursday announced the list of participating exhibitors for its 2024 edition, which will take place at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the fair will be held from 1 to 3 March, with previews on 28 February and 29 February.
The fair’s 17th edition will bring together over 100 exhibitors across four gallery sections: Contemporary, Art Dubai Modern, Bawwaba (meaning Gateway in Arabic) and the third edition of Art Dubai Digital, the only dedicated digital section of any major international art fair.
Global South
The latest edition of the fair bids to expand definitions of the ‘Global South’ beyond traditional geographic and economic boundaries, emphasising the shared histories and distinct narratives of communities worldwide, from Delhi, Tehran and Cairo to Bogota and Guatemala City, as well as diasporic and migrant histories from global centres like London, Paris and New York. The fair also reinforces Dubai’s position as a leading regional and global destination for culture and the arts and reflects the empowerment of the artistic and creative sectors as part of a futuristic development paradigm.
Several galleries will be participating in multiple sections of the fair, reflecting the breadth of collecting tastes in the region, from Modern Arab masters through distinctively contemporary and new media and digital art.
Major marketplace
Since its inception in 2007, the fair has sought to reflect Dubai’s diverse global communities, identities and cultures, and this year welcomes more exhibitors based out of Dubai than ever before, which attests to the continued enrichment of the cultural scene and the art market in the emirate.
Pablo del Val, Art Dubai’s Artistic Director, commented: “Over nearly two decades, Art Dubai has grown to become the major marketplace and platform for galleries from non-Western art centres. Once again, over 60% of our programme is drawn from the Global South, presenting the best galleries and telling the stories of the leading artists from this region — making Art Dubai unique among art fairs in the communities it serves.
“This year’s exhibitor list clearly demonstrates the continued growth of Dubai’s art scene, the importance of commercial platforms for digital and new media art, and our ongoing commitment to scholarship and under-explored art histories. More than an art fair, we are proud to be a meeting place for these communities, to offer pathways for emerging and younger galleries representing a broad geographic spectrum, and to hold up a mirror to the myriad communities who are contributing to the continued growth of Dubai as both a global city, and capital of the Global South.”
Art Dubai Contemporary
Presenting the very best in contemporary art from around the world will be Art Dubai Contemporary, with a particular focus on art and artists from the Global South. Art Dubai, in its 17th edition, will welcome 72 contemporary exhibitors from more than 50 cities spanning five continents. Several exhibitors will be participating for the first time, including Peres Projects, Gajah, and Voloshyn. There will also be many who will be returning to the fair after a hiatus, including Almine Rech, Franco Noero, Nature Morte, Vadehra and Tanit. The fair will also showcase 21 Dubai-based exhibitors, marking the largest presentation to date, and reflecting the continued growth of Dubai as an international cultural hub. There will also be an increased representation of leading South and South-East Asian, Middle Eastern and international exhibitors. This growth reflects the rise in the international prominence of these creative centres besides Dubai’s expanding population and communities, while underscoring the unique role Art Dubai plays as the primary international platform for art from these regions.
Bawwaba
Another section, Bawwaba — meaning gateway in Arabic — focuses on highly curated solo presentations of artists from the Global South and features artworks made in the 12 months prior to, or specifically for, Art Dubai. Curated by Emilano Valdés, Chief Curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MAMM) in Medellin, Colombia, the 2024 edition of Bawwaba is titled Sanación / Healing, and presents a series of artistic practices that explore healing on a personal and spiritual level besides its social, historical and political interplays, examining the ways in which these varying scales of the healing process relate.
A selection of 10 solo projects will spotlight artists who think of art as a place of reckoning, healing, and coming together. At the same time, their work confronts social and political issues, stirring critical dialogue and creating a sense of community and social justice. Through a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, video, and performance, these bodies of work examine the ways in which art can function as a catalyst for transformation and change, comparing how these processes change from country to country or people to people.
The artists and galleries participating in Bawwaba’s 2024 edition are Laxmipriya Panigrahi (Anant Art); AVAF — Assumed Vivid Astro Focus (Baró); Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai (Blueprint12); Debashish Paul (Emami Art); Manuel Chavajai (Extra); Manjot Kaur (Latitude 28); Nicolás Janowski (Invernizzi); Reinata Sadimba (Perve); Abul Hisham (Secci); and Faissal El Maleki (Tashkeel).
Art Dubai Modern
Another quintessential section of the fair, Art Dubai Modern, is curated by Dr Christianna Bonin, Assistant Professor of Art History at the American University of Sharjah, and focuses on the histories of art education and display that gave rise to today’s Global South. Starting after 1960, the Soviet Union conducted a robust cultural exchange with artists, filmmakers, musicians and architects in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, providing scholarships and exhibition opportunities in a parallel political and cultural programme to Western countries.
This presentation will reveal the shared creative approaches, setbacks and aspirations which resulted from these common experiences. Featuring a plurality of artistic voices from places as seemingly distant and distinct as Uganda, Syria, Ukraine and Sri Lanka, this presentation will reveal the shared creative approaches, setbacks and aspirations which resulted from these common experiences.
The section will also examine the growing importance of cities such as Kyiv, Cairo, Almaty and Tashkent as centres of international study and exchange in this period. It draws attention to these significant yet understudied aspects of the history of art from these regions, uncovering new art practices and perspectives for the fair’s audiences.
Major artists and galleries
Artists and galleries participating in Art Dubai Modern 2024 include Agial: Wahib Beteddini (Lebanon 1929-2011) and Abdul Mannan Shamma (Syria, b. 1937); Afriart: Samuel Kakaire (Uganda b. 1961); Saskia Fernando: Chandraguptha Thenuwara (Sri Lanka, b. 1960); Mark Hachem: Hamed Abdalla (Egypt, 1917-1985), Fatima El Hajj (Lebanon, b. 1953) and Michel Basbous (Lebanon, 1921-1981); Leila Heller: Marcos Grigorian (Armenia, 1925-2007); Gazelli Art House: Tair Salakhov (Azerbaijan, 1928-2021), Ashraf Murad (Azerbaijan, 1929-1979) and Farhad Khalilov (Azerbaijan, b. 1946); Hafez: Abdulsattar Al Mussa (KSA, b. 1960) and Hakim Al Akil (Yemen, b. 1965); Meem: Dia al-Azzawi (Iraq, b. 1939), Ismail Fattah (Iraq, 1934-2004), Muhammed Aref, (Iraq, 1937-2009) and Mahmoud Sabri, (Iraq, 1927-2012); and Voloshyn: Fedir Tetianych (Ukraine, 1942—2007).
Art Dubai Digital
Art Dubai 2024 marks the third edition of Art Dubai Digital, which was founded in 2022 to provide an annual 360-degree snapshot of the digital art landscape, exploring how artists are utilising new, immersive technologies to collapse the boundaries of the traditional art world. Art Dubai Digital welcomes galleries with innovative new media programmes, as well as digital platforms building virtual art spaces, alongside the artist collectives and Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) that are challenging and pushing forward new models for artistic production and support.
Reinforcing Art Dubai’s commitment to presenting global perspectives and diversity, Art Dubai Digital invites audiences to look beyond traditional art centres and models, mapping out the key agents and the platforms leading the way.
Art Dubai Digital 2024 is curated by Alfredo Cramerotti and Auronda Scalera, whose presentation is titled Expansion / Diffusion. Inspired by the American astronomer Edwin Hubble’s discovery almost 100 years ago that the universe was in expansion, the curators have sought to zoom in on novel artistic practices around the world, spanning geographies, time zones and formats. They have selected the section’s participants through what they term ‘the field of art and advanced technologies’ (AxAT): technical innovation through the lens of contemporary art, and vice versa. Across more than 20 presentations, Art Dubai Digital 2024 will present an expanded vision of what artistic expression is, may be, and will be, in the field of contemporary art.
Diverse range of media
On show will be a diverse range of media including digital video, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), artificial intelligence (AI), generative art, robotic art, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and immersive art experiences. Themes explored by the artists and collectives on show include the intersection of technology and spirituality; digital approaches to heritage preservation; and the empowerment of women artists.
Highlights will include a unique presentation by the 1 of 1 platform founded by Ryan Zurrer that defines 21st-century artworks highlighting the exceptional talent of female digital artists IX Shells and Auriea Harvey. In what is expected to be another big draw, Unit London will explore the human body through the digital perspectives of Krista Kim, Linda Dounia, and Studio Meeson, while bitforms will feature Manfred Mohr, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and Refik Anadol.
A further highlight will be {R (Evolutionaries);}, a groundbreaking exhibition from the Dubai-based platform MORROW collective. Celebrating 10 years of blockchain art, the presentation will focus on the pioneers and leading figures who have shaped this space, including original genesis pieces and re-imaginings of historic work, alongside new creations.
