- Taking place at Madinat Jumeirah, March 18-21, 2015, Art Dubai is the leading international art fair in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
- The most global of art fairs, the 2015 edition grows to include 92 modern and contemporary galleries from 40 countries
- Marker turns its focus to Latin America and the historical and contemporary connections between this region and the Arab world
- 2015 Global Art Forum takes on the theme of technologies, and their impact on the world of art, culture and beyond
- Part of the fair’s extensive not-for-profit programme, Art Dubai Projects includes residencies, commissions, radio and film
Art Dubai 2015 Opening Press Conference / Courtesy: The Studio
March 17, 2015
Art Dubai offers the opportunity to engage with the work of more than 500 artists from the UAE, the region and the world across three gallery programmes: Contemporary, Modern, and Marker.
Alongside the gallery halls, Art Dubai presents an extraordinarily extensive not-for profit programming, including a series of dynamic commissioned site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects; an exhibition by winners of The Abraaj Group Art Prize; the critically-acclaimed, five-day conference Global Art Forum; a live radio station; film and video screenings; The Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program for children and teenagers; plus an engaging programme of curator-led tours, book launches, talks and collateral events.
Art Dubai is held in partnership with The Abraaj Group and is sponsored by Julius Baer and Emaar. The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority is a strategic partner of Art Dubai, and supports the fair’s year-round education programme.
The largest annual showcase of artists from the Middle East, Art Dubai is the go-to event for the world’s most influential museum directors, curators, critics and collectors looking to connect with the region’s arts scenes.
At the same time, Art Dubai acts as the annual get-together for arts enthusiasts from the UAE and across the GCC, and the 2015 features the most extensive community programme to date. Art Dubai’s preview, Wednesday March 18, will feature the opening of ‘Fada’aat’, a special exhibition focused on UAE cultural heritage, presented by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.
The fair opens for the public at 4pm on Thursday March 19, and continues through Friday and Saturday: all are welcome to attend Art Dubai at Madinat Jumeirah, and to join in the Art Week celebrations across the city and the UAE.
Innovation is also a theme that runs through Art Dubai 2015 – from the Global Art Forum’s focus on technologies, through to gallery booths presenting particularly ambitious multi-media exhibitions in the Contemporary halls.
Art Dubai 2015 also features an increased focus on performance: the curated Marker programme sees UAE-based actors and artists re-enacting performances by renowned Latin American artists, while the Absolut Art Bar includes nightly artists’ performances, as well as live music. Art Dubai Projects artists Jumana Emil Abboud and Rheim Alkadhi have created ongoing performance and durational work that are activated intermittently throughout the days of the fair and that interact with its environment.
Visitors can this year enjoy the most interactive programme to date with an extensive schedule of curator-led tours, talks, performances and talks. A feature of the collateral programme is RCA Secret Dubai, the anonymous postcard exhibition that is introduced by Paul Smith will include over 1000 unique works that will be made available for sale to the public for 500 AED each during Art Dubai on March 21.
Art Dubai 2015 programme includes:
The shepherds (1963) by Mahmoud Hammad / Courtesy of Green Art Gallery, Dubai / 90 x 75 cm
ART DUBAI CONTEMPORARY
Affirming Art Dubai’s reputation as the most global of art fairs, the Contemporary halls include 72 galleries, selected via a stringent independent committee process. In 2015, 30 galleries have opted to present ambitious solo and two-person shows; audiences will discover the work of more than 500 artists, from an extraordinarily diverse roster of galleries that includes the world’s most prominent alongside fresh, upcoming artspaces.
ART DUBAI MODERN
Launched last year, Art Dubai Modern, exclusively partnered with Mashreq Private Banking, features artists who proved influential in the twentieth century, particularly through the vibrant
modern period of the 1940s to 1980s. Each gallery presents a solo or two-person show, with work by masters from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Art Dubai Modern’s advisory committee includes Savita Apte, Catherine David, Kristine Khouri, Nada Shabout and Bisi Silva.
MARKER
In 2015, Marker focuses on Latin America. The programme, curated by Luiza Teixeira de Freitas, looks at the intersections between Latin America and the Arab world. Marker takes a dynamic, multidisciplinary approach this year and includes: a group show featuring 35 artists from across Latin America; a publishing section devoted to artists books, co-presented by Tijuana, Sao Paulo, and The State, UAE; performance curated by and featuring Colombian artist Maria Jose Arjona; a film programme curated by Videobrasil; and sound art projects by Maria Quiroga and Marina Buendia.
THE ABRAAJ GROUP ART PRIZE
The Abraaj Group Art Prize exhibition at Art Dubai, curated by Omar Kholeif, features new work by the 2015 winner, Yto Barrada, as well as previous works by three shortlisted artists—Sarnath Banerjee, Setareh Shahbazi and Mounira Al Solh. The Abraaj Group Art Prize is the only prize in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia that awards artists on the basis of submitted project proposals.
ART DUBAI PROJECTS
Art Dubai Projects is a not-for-profit programme that includes residencies and commissions, curated in 2015 by Lara Khaldi, plus live radio and film. A.i.R (Artists-in-Residence) Dubai, a partnership between Art Dubai, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Taskeel, sees six artists–Rheim Alkadhi, Mehraneh Atashi, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Jessica Mein, Hind Mezaina and Sharmeen Syed–produce new projects for the fair through a three month residency.
Art Dubai Commissions is a new programme devoted to mid-career artists: Jumana Emil Abboud, Maria Thereza Alvez, Umashankar and the Earchaeologists, Mehreen Murtaza and Fari Bradley & Chris Weaver. Their major site-specific works are located at Madinat Jumeirah, Alserkal Avenue, and around the city, and developed in collaboration with partner organisations Alserkal Avenue, British Council, Maraya Art Centre and Tashkeel.
In 2015, Campus Art Dubai’s Core class take on producing Art Dubai Radio, with a week-long programme of sound, music and talks, live at the fair.
Absolut has partnered with Art Dubai to commission Yazan Khalili to conceptualise and create a large-scale bar installation, the Art Bar by Absolut, on Fort Island.
GLOBAL ART FORUM
Titled ‘Download Update?’, the Global Art Forum 2015 takes on the theme of technologies, and their impact on the world of art, culture and beyond. The talks programme, the largest such
annual gathering in the Middle East / Asia, is presented by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and supported by Dubai Design District (d3).
Featuring a diverse line-up of more than 50 participants, including artists, curators, musicians, strategists, technologists and writers, the Global Art Forum is co-directed by Turi Munthe and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, with Shumon Basar as Director-at-Large. The five days of live talks begin in Kuwait–supported by the Tamdeen Group, March 14-15–where the programme includes a two-day workshop on digitizing archives, before continuing at Art Dubai, March 18-20, where a day is devoted to the youth movement 89plus.
EDUCATION
Art Dubai Education features programmes for children through to arts professionals. The Sheikha Manal Little Artist Program is an artist-led set of workshops and tours for children and teenagers. Art Dubai also works with colleges on specialist tours at the fair.
In 2015, Forum Fellows, an intensive series of workshops led by Tirdad Zolghadr, is supported by Julius Baer, and focuses on an exceptional group of upcoming writers from the region.
Campus Art Dubai is a year-round art school for artists, curators and writers featuring Core and Community classes, run in partnership with Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and supported by Dubai Design District (d3).
About Art Dubai
Art Dubai is held in partnership with The Abraaj Group and is sponsored by Emaar and Julius Baer. Madinat Jumeirah is home to the event. Mashreq Private Banking is the exclusive partner of Art Dubai Modern.
The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority is a strategic partner of Art Dubai, and supports the fair’s year-round education programme.
Maserati is Art Dubai’s official Automotive Sponsor.
The ninth edition of Art Dubai takes place March 18-21, 2015. The gallery halls include 92 galleries from 40 countries, presented through three programmes – Contemporary, Modern and Marker. Art Dubai’s extensive not-for-profit programme includes Art Dubai Projects; an exhibition of works by winners of the annual The Abraaj Group Art Prize; a range of educational programmes including The Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program and the community school Campus Art Dubai; and the critically-acclaimed Global Art Forum.
Art Dubai
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