Art Dubai has opened its doors for this year’s edition on Wednesday. The art fair will take place until March 3, but what exactly is Art Dubai and what impact does it have? It is “more than just a fair,” Executive Director, Benedetta Ghione said in an exclusive interview with Arabian Business.
“Since its founding in 2008, Art Dubai has evolved into a key institution, serving as a catalyst and important driver of Dubai’s creative economy,” she added.
Art Dubai’s economic contribution
Aside from offering a platform for all things art in the city, the fair contributed significantly to Dubai’s economy. According to an Economic Impact Study conducted by IPSOS following the previous edition of the fair, it was revealed that Art Dubai had a direct economic impact of AED143 million for the city, notably a 55 percent increase from 2019.
The growth was observed in various markets including the hotel industry which saw 23,500 bookings made for the fair.
“The city has truly emerged as a capital of the Global South, particularly within the creative industries,” Ghione affirmed.
As Dubai continues to become home to an increasing number of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, the Art Dubai collector base is facing a surge of interest.
“Through the expert guidance of our VIP teams and initiatives like the Art Salon, we have managed to cultivate strong relationships and build an influential community of individual and institutional collectors,” she explained.
“Art Dubai being accessible to a wide group of collectors, from the top tier global individuals who attend all of the world’s top art fairs, to the global institutions who shape collecting tastes, to offering an entry point for the next generation of collectors, and everyone in between,” she said.
As Dubai continues to make leaps as a global leader in the technological realm, Art Dubai for the third year will “continue to push the boundaries of Phygital.” This section will provide a platform for early digital pioneers and emerging trends in AI, AR, VR, NFT and more among young and established collectors.
“Digital art and artists are on the rise. They’re expanding our very understanding and definition of contemporary art and culture,” Ghione said. Recognising the strides in digital art, for the first time in its history, the fair is set to host a Digital Summit to encourage and support Dubai’s digital art ecosystem.
Ghione touched upon some of the sections at this year’s fair, “Each meticulously developed to spotlight a particular subset of contemporary art from the Global South.”
Bawwba: Translates to ‘gateway’ in Arabic by Emiliano Valdes from the Medellin Museum of Modern Art in Columbia features 10 undiscovered artists from Latin America, Middle East and South Asia. Artists include Laxmipriya Panigrahi, AVAF, Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai, Debashish Paul, Manuel Chavajay and more.
Art Dubai Modern: By art historian Dr. Christina Bonin sheds light on histories and rare masterpieces of “modern greats” including Hamed Abdalla from Egypt, Abdul Mannan Shamma from Syria, Fatima El Hajj from Lebanon, Samuel Kakaire from Uganda, and Chandraguptha Thenuwara from Sri Lanka, all who travelled, studied and exhibited in the Soviet Union in the sixties and seventies.
“By narrating the stories of these iconic figures and contextualising art history from these regions, we aim to create scholarship and awareness in the market,” she said.
A.R.M. Holding Children’s Programme: An art education programme with the reach of over 100 schools across the UAE with the aim to nurture next generation of artists and creative thinkers.
Looking to the future, Ghione says that the fair aims to continue on the trajectory of growth and expansion. “We look forward to expanding on the mission of the fair, questioning the very definition of the ‘Global South’ and its artists in 2024 across over 120 presentations by more than 500 of the world’s top artists, from over 60 cities, spanning Guatemala City, Beirut and Tehran to Accra, Colombo and New Delhi,” she said.
“The world is undoubtedly changing, and we believe that Dubai stands at the crossroads of this change. With diverse participation with over 65 percent of participants from cities in the Global South, we’re leading the charge in amplifying voices from underrepresented regions,” she concluded.
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