More than a hundred galleries from 44 countries participated in Art Dubai, which was organized for the 15th time this year. Including a selection of Refik Anadol’s new media artworks, the highlight of the 15th edition was the Art Dubai Digital section.
The leading art fair of the Middle East, Art Dubai, returned this year with a much more well-attended version for its 15th anniversary, after its reduced edition last year due to the epidemic. More than 100 galleries from 44 countries from Latin America to Asia participated in this edition, in which the fair, that has been held for 15 years, has the largest participation rate ever. The fair, which started with a VIP preview on March 9, hosted its general guests between March 11-13. The 15th edition of Art Dubai was organized in four sections, “Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba and Digital”.
Art Dubai Contemporary
In this part of the fair, the works of 77 galleries, 15 of which participated for the first time this year, were exhibited. While the works of artists such as Carbon 12, Sarah Almehairi, Andre Butzer, Anthony Akinbola, Anahita Razmi and Amba Sayal-Bennett from Dubai were presented, Green Art Gallery, the representative of the works of the famous Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz, was among the participants. Participating galleries from Istanbul in this section were Sanatorium, Dirimart, x-ist, Anna Laudel and Zilberman Gallery.
Art Dubai Modern
Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, this modern section showcases works by 20th-century artists from the Middle East and Africa, including paintings by Lebanese painter Bibi Zogbe, known for her floral-patterned canvases. Another of these artists is Lebanese painter Aref El Rayess, whose retrospective exhibition is currently presented at the Sharjah Art Museum.
Bawwaba
The aim of this section, where works specially prepared for Art Dubai last year were exhibited, is to bring together the contemporary art world and trends of Africa, Latin America and Asia. A total of 10 solo exhibitions were presented to the audience in the Bawwaba (meaning “door” in Arabic) section, curated by Nancy Adajania. The striking paintings of Tonja Nneji from Lagos-based Rele Gallery and works by Soghra Khurasani from New Delhi were among the prominent works that participated in Art Dubai for the first time.
Art Dubai Digital
Art Dubai Digital, as one of the most important innovations of this year, was one of the parts that attracted attention at the fair. Curated by Chris Fussner, this section showcases various works of artists who have been dealing with digital art since the 1980s. One of the 18 participating galleries was Pilevneli Gallery with the selection of new media artist Refik Anadol. Within the scope of this selection, the works of the artist “Bosphorus”, “Melting Memories”, “Machine Hallucinations”, “Quantum Memories” and “Symphony Dreams” were exhibited. With this exhibition, which has brought together various works since 2018, a light is shed on Anadol’s art life.
Nowadays, the number of investors coming to Dubai, which is one of the most demanded addresses of crypto money and NFT trading, is increasing and the digital section opened in Art Dubai does not surprise us. Because the art director of the fair, Pablo del Val, says that he finds the digital orientation natural. It seems that the dominance of this digital universe in the art world will increase as the relationship of both the world and Dubai with crypto money and NFT continues in the coming periods.
