Art Dubai 2024
Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
28 February - 3 March 2024
This year’s edition of Art Dubai seeks 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 Bogotá and Guatemala City, as well as diasporic and migrant histories from global centres like London, Paris and New York. Several galleries will be showing in multiple sections of the fair, reflecting the breadth of collecting tastes in the region, from Modern Arab masters through cutting-edge contemporary and new media and digital art.
Since its foundation in 2007, Art Dubai has sought to reflect Dubai’s diverse global communities, identities and cultures, and this year welcomes more exhibitors than ever who are based in Dubai, which reflects the continued strengthening of the cultural scene and the art market in the Emirate.
Art Dubai’s 17th edition will present over 100 exhibitors across four gallery sections:
• Art Dubai Contemporary
• Art Dubai Modern
• Bawwaba (meaning Gateway in Arabic)
• Art Dubai Digital
ART DUBAI CONTEMPORARY
Art Dubai Contemporary presents the "very best in cutting-edge contemporary art from around the world", with particular focus on art and artists from the Global South. For our 17th edition, the fair welcomes 72 contemporary exhibitors from more than 50 cities spanning five continents. The 2024 edition will welcome several exhibitors for the first time, including Peres Projects, Gajah, and Voloshyn as well as many who are returning to the fair following 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. This edition also sees 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, reflect Dubai’s expanding population and communities, and underscores the unique role Art Dubai plays as the primary international platform for art from these regions.
ART DUBAI MODERN
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. Beginning in the 1960s, the Soviet Union conducted 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. It will feature a plurality of artistic voices from places as seemingly distant and distinct as Uganda, Syria, Ukraine and Sri Lanka, inviting consideration of connections that transcend existing geopolitical borders and instead link East to East and South to South. 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.
The participating artists and galleries in Art Dubai Modern 2024 are:
• 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)
• Voloshyn: Fedir Tetianych (Ukraine, 1942–2007)
ART DUBAI: BAWWABA
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 entitled Sanación / Healing, and presents a series of artistic practices that explore healing on a personal and spiritual but also social, historical and political level, examining the ways in which these varying scales of the healing process relate. A selection of ten 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, engaging in 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)
• Faissal El Maleki (Tashkeel)
ART DUBAI DIGITAL
Art Dubai 2024 marks the third edition of Art Dubai Digital, 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 measured the temperature of 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 it is, may be, and will be, in the field of contemporary art.
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, 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 1 of 1 platform, founded by Ryan Zurrer and which defines 21st-century artworks will present the exceptional talent of female digital artists IX Shells and Auriea Harvey; Unit London will explore the human body through the digital perspectives of Krista Kim, Linda Dounia, and Studio Meeson; and 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 ten 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.
ART DUBAI
