Anticipating Art Dubai 2024: What Is In Stock?

by Sophie She

Anticipating Art Dubai 2024: What Is In Stock?

28 Feb 2024

Every year, art enthusiasts eagerly anticipate Art Dubai. With diverse artists showcasing their work, there is always something unique and captivating to explore. This year's event runs from March 1 to March 3, and today, February 28, we attended a press conference to gather valuable insights. Now, we have distilled that information for you, offering a guide on what to see in each section of the fair: Contemporary, Bawwaba, Modern, and Digital. Let's delve in!

As mentioned by Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director of Art Dubai, the fair plays a crucial role in the Dubai cultural development, being at the core of this structure.

“Dubai Art is an independent art fair with a unique model,” Benedetta highlights, explaining that the fair not only plays a leading commercial art foundation’s role but also acts as an institution working with businesses and government to build a coherent cultural ecosystem.

As a testament to this public and societal commitment, Art Dubai introduces “Union of Artists”, the first permanent large-scale public sculpture as part of Dubai's recently launched Public Art Strategy. The unveiling happened this morning in the public garden adjacent to the Etihad Museum.

Source: artdubai.ae

Furthermore, on the societal impact of the fair, Benedetta and Basar highlighted that talk and educational aspects are centric for Art Dubai as an institution. Holding eight streams of talks “for all agents and levels of curiosity”, as mentioned by Basar, the educational forum is united under the theme “Global Art Forum 17: Whether Or Not”, aiming to breach stereotypes of climate change being something related only to the exotic East: “Western mindset links extreme weather conditions with the third world countries. But not anymore”.

Projecting onto the fair’s core idea, Pablo del Val, the Artistic Director of Art Dubai, stated that the art fair achieved the goal it had been striving for many years: “This year we have finally reached a goal, it's [Art Dubai Fair] becoming a project that we truly reflect the DNA of Dubai.”

Taking pride in the fact that more than 75 per cent of artists and galleries come from non-Western geographies, Pablo highlights this year’s fair is about contrasting with Western contemporary art events. He says, “Dubai is built of 22 micro-societies with an idea to bring your heritage into a place where you move. This became our motto. We look at the diverse geographies [Middle East, Asia, Africa], and we do it [the art fair] differently in comparison with the Western contemporary art fairs.”

Taking this “bring your heritage to the place of your setting” idea, curators further elaborated in their sections.

Art Dubai Digital curated by Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti “Expansion / Diffusion”

Art Dubai 2024 is the third edition of Art Dubai Digital, which annually captures the digital art landscape, showcasing how artists use immersive technologies to redefine traditional boundaries. The event embraces galleries with innovative media programs, virtual art platforms, artist collectives, and DAOs challenging conventional models.

Curated by Alfredo Cramerotti and Auronda Scalera, the theme is "Expansion / Diffusion," inspired by Edwin Hubble's discovery of the expanding universe. With over 20 presentations, Art Dubai Digital 2024 explores contemporary art through various media, including digital video, augmented reality, virtual reality, AI, generative and robotic art.

Themes include technology and spirituality, digital heritage preservation, and empowering women artists. Highlights feature the one platform's presentation of female digital artists IX Shells and Auriea Harvey, Unit London's exploration of humanity and technology with Krista Kim, and "Bitforms" showcase of artists like Manfred Mohr and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.

A standout is the MORROW collective's "{R(Evolutionaries);}" exhibition, marking 10 years of blockchain art, presenting pioneers' original and re-imagined works alongside new creations.

— Alfredo, could you summarise the exhibition in your own words?

— It is a presentation of the future trends of art through the ecosystem of the digital. It includes big trends like spirituality, a holistic approach to life, and gender empowerment is a very important element. And actually I would say the whole idea of expanding the boundaries of art, that is the main thing. Making art with tools that allow you to do things that you couldn't do with painting a sculpture. And, for instance, changing artwork every eight hours or something like that. So something like that is not possible with other means.

— Was the exhibition a bit science-inspired?

— It was an interesting parallel between what was the scientific discovery at that time and the status of art production and visual art now, which is very, very expanding to many, many forms.

Art Dubai Modern curated by Dr. Christianna Bonin “The Global South”

Art Dubai Modern, curated by Dr. Christianna Bonin, Assistant Professor of Art History at the American University of Sharjah, delves into the histories of art education and display that shaped the Global South. Starting in the 1960s, the Soviet Union engaged in extensive cultural exchange with the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, fostering ties in art, film, music, and architecture. This exhibit uncovers shared creative approaches, challenges, and aspirations, showcasing diverse artistic voices from places like Uganda, Syria, Ukraine, and Sri Lanka. It emphasises connections that go beyond geopolitical borders, linking East to East and South to South. The section also explores the rising significance of cities like Kyiv, Cairo, Almaty, and Tashkent as hubs of international study and exchange, shedding light on understudied aspects of art history from these regions and offering new perspectives for the fair's audiences.

— Christianna, could you please tell me how you were selecting the artworks for this exhibition?

— All the artists have some connection to the Soviet Union. The exhibition's theme revolves around the cultural exchanges between the Soviet Union and Arab, African, and South Asian countries. Therefore, the selection of artists occurred organically through meetings with galleries and research. However, the common thread among them is their shared educational background, not just in Russia. Some studied in Kyiv, others in Baku, and some in Tashkent. I'm particularly intrigued by these horizontal geographies that emerged during this period.

As for the narratives we want to highlight, Art Dubai Modern serves as an opportunity to showcase established artists as well as uncover new talents. For example, Mahmoud Sabri, an Iraqi artist who studied under Alexander Deyneka at Surikov, is featured. Additionally, there are artists like Samuel Kakaire from Uganda, who studied icon painting, mosaics, and monumental painting at the Mukhina Institute in Leningrad during the 1980s. The artworks he creates have an Afro-futuristic quality, with bold backgrounds blending elements of the sacred and the secular. Notably, they are framed by a brown cloth known as bark cloth, which holds deep cultural significance in Uganda. Historically, bark cloth was used as a burial shroud and worn by royalty. However, during the late 19th century, the British Empire's Christianization of Uganda led to the prohibition of bark cloth due to its sacred properties. Today, there is a revival of bark cloth as a symbol of local culture and sacred material.

Samuel's works are intriguing because, on one hand, they evoke the iconography of sacred objects, which are also considered sacred. However, he does not incorporate Christian imagery into his art.

BAWWABA curated by Emilano Valdés, “The Gateway”

Bawwaba, meaning "gateway" in Arabic, presents highly curated solo exhibitions featuring artists from the Global South, showcasing artworks created in the 12 months leading up to or specifically for Art Dubai. Curated by Emiliano Valdés, Chief Curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Medellin, Colombia, the 2024 edition is titled "Sanación / Healing / تعاف." It explores artistic practices focused on personal and spiritual healing, examining the interconnectedness of healing processes at different scales. The exhibition features 10 solo projects highlighting artists who view art as a space for reckoning, healing, and unity while addressing social and political issues. Through various mediums, including painting, sculpture, video, and performance, these works explore how art can act as a catalyst for transformation and change, emphasising the differences in these processes across countries and communities.

by Sophie She