ART DUBAI 2021
14th EDITION IN ICONIC NEW LOCATION
-With a new location and extended dates, the 14th edition of the region’s leading art fair will take place 29 March to 3 April 2021 at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
-New Art Dubai app allows visitors to book their visiting times, explore exhibiting galleries, artworks and view the full programme.
-50 galleries from 31 countries are participating in the fair, with a focus on artists from the Middle East and the broader Global South.
-Art Dubai 2021 will present a new Film Programme, a curatorial project featuring single-channel films produced by 20+ regional and international artists.
-A curated Sculpture Park will feature large-scale works by eight artists along the water paths surrounding the iconic Gate Building in DIFC.
-Across the UAE, special events and exhibitions will be held by the local art community during the week of Art Dubai.
-Remote Participation Programme to allow those galleries who are unable to travel to virtually represent their artists.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, The Middle East’s leading art fair, Art Dubai will stage its 14th edition in a purpose-built venue at the iconic Gate Building in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), 29 March to 3 April 2021.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; Art Dubai returns as one of the first in–person art international fairs of 2021, featuring 50 leading Contemporary and Modern galleries from 31 countries.
Art Dubai will operate at the highest COVID-19 safety protocols; alongside standard procedures, including regular testing of participants, the fair has introduced extra precautions to manage capacity and offer a safe and flexible environment for all. These include extending the opening hours, adding an extra fair day and the newly launched Art Dubai App will allow visitors to book dedicated time slots in advance to guarantee entry.
Reaffirming the fair’s commitment to providing a physical platform and marketplace for artists and galleries from across the Global South, visitors will encounter galleries from across the Middle East and South and East Asia, including from Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, India, Vietnam and Philippines. There is also strong representation from across the African continent including galleries from Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Tunisia.The fair will feature nine of Dubai’s top galleries as well as galleries from major and emerging international art centres.
The new Art Dubai App will also allow visitors to stay up-to-date with the latest news and announcements, explore the exhibiting galleries and artworks, view the full programme of exhibitions and cultural events happenings in galleries and public spaces across the UAE. From family-focused activities to cutting-edge, dynamic programming, a diverse array of activations will take place during the week of Art Dubai.
Art Dubai’s Artistic Director, Pablo del Val, commented:
“In-person events are the heart and soul of the art world and ours is a sector that has –like so many others –been significantly impacted by the events of the last 12 months. As we begin to navigate our way out of the pandemic, we feel a keen responsibility to do everything we possibly can to support the artists, galleries and many service providers who depend on a vibrant and dynamic global commercial art sector.”
“We understand culture as a priority and a necessity, even more so after this long pandemic. Our ability to understand the world and connect with it without the filters of a computer screen is more imperative than ever. This edition of Art Dubai invites us to do precisely that, to recover our senses and reactivate them through art.”
Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director of Art Dubai, said:
“Our team has been working tirelessly over the past year to innovate and re–think the fair model, which will be apparent throughout Art Dubai 2021. We have a new venue for this year, an innovative payment model for participating galleries and a remote participation programme specficially created forthosegalleriesunable to travel to Dubai.Although some of these will be one–off initiatives reflecting the current times, others we expect to enhance for future editions”.
Art Dubai 2021 Galleries
Featuring 50 leading Contemporary and Modern galleries from 31 countries visitors to Art Dubai 2021 can discover a diverse selection of artworks, artists and practices, reflecting the multicultural identity of the city along with a curated sculpture park with large-scale installations, featuring works by eight artists including Emirati Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Hussain Sharif.
+2, Tehran
Gallery 1957, Accra/London
Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa/London
Agial & Saleh Barakat Gallery, Beirut
Aicon Art, New York
Akka Project, Venice/Dubai
Galería Albarrán Bourdais, Madrid
Gallery ArtBeat, Tbilisi
Athr Gallery, Jeddah
Ayyam Gallery, Dubai
Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi/London
Comptoir des Mines Galerie, Marrakech
GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins/Havana/Rome/São Paulo/Paris
Custot Gallery Dubai, Dubai
Dastan’s Basement, Tehran
ELMARSA GALLERY, Dubai/Tunis
Experimenter, Kolkata
Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai
Gazelli Art House, Baku/London
Hafez Gallery, Jeddah
Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai/New York
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London/Berlin
Khak Gallery, Tehran
Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai/London
Mark Hachem, Beirut/Paris/New York
Gallery Misr, Cairo
Meem Gallery, Dubai
Mono Gallery, Riyadh
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Brussels
Perrotin, Hong Kong/Seoul/Tokyo/Shanghai/Paris/New York
Giorgio Persano, Turin
Perve Galeria, Lisbon
RONCHINI, London
The Rooster Gallery, Vilnius
SANATORIUM, Istanbul
SARADIPOUR Art Gallery, Los Angeles/Tehran
Galerie—Peter—Sillem, Frankfurt
Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg
Silverlens, Manila
Stems Gallery, Brussels
TAFETA, London/Lagos
TEMPLON, Paris/Brussels
The Third Line, Dubai
Tropical Futures Institute, Cebu City
Vin Gallery, Ho Chi Minh City
Yusto/Giner, Marbella
Zawyeh Gallery, Ramallah/Dubai
Salwa Zeidan Gallery, Abu Dhabi
Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery, Luxembourg
Art Dubai has also announced a number of innovations for the 2021 fair. These include a collaborative new partnership with exhibiting galleries, whereby participation costs are partly based on sales, and a Remote Participation Programme that will support those galleries who are unable to travel to Dubai in person, by using new technologies to connect them digitally with fair visitors who are discovering their artworks in person.
Art Dubai’s 2021 programme include:
Sculpture Park
A curated Sculpture Park surrounding the DIFC Gate Building features large–scale installations by ten artists including: pioneering conceptual Emirati artists Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Hussain Sharif, Saudi artist Rashed Al Shashai, Iraqi painter and sculptor Dia Al–Azzawi and Algerian sculptor, print–maker and ceramicist Rachid Koraïchi alongside Contemporary Mozambican artist Gonçalo Mabunda, Greek conceptual sculptor Costas Varotsos, Indian architect Tarik Currimbhoy, French conceptual artist Bernar Venet and Argentine–French multidisciplinary artist Pablo Reinoso.
Film Programme and 50 Years United Exhibition
As part of this year’s curatorial projects, Art Dubai will present a Film Programme comprised of screening stations located along DIFC’s Gate Avenue, featuring single–channel films produced by over 20 regional and international artists. Each is thematically categorised to curate a specific experience for the viewer that includes: Nature, Journeys, Dystopias, Conversations, Performances and Animations, among others.
A station is dedicated to Art Dubai Portraits, an ongoing film series in partnership with BMW Middle East that provides perspectives into the lives and workspaces of artists connected to the fair.
Also in Gate Avenue, are collective black and white photographic exhibition showcases images dating back to 2 December 1971, taken by Ramesh Shukla and the inspiration behind Art Dubai’s 2021 graphic campaign. 50 Years United is a visual commemoration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the nation and offers a journey down memory lane, with portraits of the Founding Fathers, vintage landmarks and traditional customs and heritage.
Campus Art Dubai 8.0
Curated by Munira Al Sayegh, an exhibition titled Plants, Animals, Minerals presents the culmination of Campus Art Dubai 8.0, that was supported by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and hosted by A.R.M. Holding. The latest edition of the six-month seminar and residency programme -providing Emirati and UAE-based artists with educational and professional opportunities-features five selected artists’ responses to the theme of symbiotic life in a parasitic world. The participating artists are: Ameena AlJarman, Layan Attari, Nahla Tabbaa, Zahra Jewanjee, and Zena Adhami.
Ithra Art Prize
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) celebrates contemporary art and artists through the IthraArt Prize. Launched in 2017 in collaboration with Art Dubai, the winning artwork premieres at the yearly event. This is the third iteration of the prize which is awarded annually to Saudi and Saudi-based contemporary artists and aims to fund, promote and showcase them globally. The latest winner is the Saudi artist Fahad bin Naif, for his installation ‘Rakhm’, which means ‘incubation’ in Arabic. Unveiled at Art Dubai 2021; it is the first opportunity for the public to enjoy it. The installation aims to conceptually preserve a nursery as both an urban typology and its ‘incubatees’, as an environmental micro-economy. Mirroring both the sensitivity and urgency of the content, safely and carefully incubating an intelligent green infrastructure, Rakhmis a polytunnel nursery that mimics the existing urban nurseries in the Kingdom with endemic plants and flowers instead of conventional foreign houseplants.
*Art Dubai’s 2021 programme also includes new exhibitions by key partners of the fair; Switzerland is presenting an outdoor installation titled Swiss Fog Magnified, featuring over one thousand crystal glass spheres and reinterpreting a highlight that awaits visitors in the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Commissioned by Maison Ruinart to express his vision of the brand, its heritage and savoir-faire, British artist David Shrigley presents a series of indoor and outdoor artworks with an offbeat and unrelenting sense of humour, acting as an effervescent eye-opener to environmental concerns. Luxury Italian brand Salvatore Ferragamo will stage an activation, showcasing their Spring/Summer 2021 collection and integrating a visual experience and short film shot in Milan by award-winning filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)
Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is one of the world’s most advanced financial centres, and the leading financial hub for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), which comprises 72 countries with an approximate population of 3 billion and a nominal GDP of USD 7.7 trillion.
With a 16–year track record of facilitating trade and investment flows across the MEASA region, the Centre connects these fast–growing markets with the economies of Asia, Europe and the Americas through Dubai. DIFC is home to an internationally recognised, independent regulator and a proven judicial system with an English common law framework, as well as the region’s largest financial ecosystem of around 27,000 professionals working across over 2,900 active registered companies –making up the largest and most diverse pool of industry talent in the region.
The Centre’s vision is to drive the future of finance. Today, it offers one of the region’s most comprehensive FinTech and venture capital environments, including cost–effective licensing solutions, fit–for–purpose regulation, innovative accelerator programmes, and funding for growth–stage start–ups.
Comprising a variety of world–renowned retail and dining venues, a dynamic art and culture scene, residential apartments, hotelsandpublic spaces, DIFC continues to be one of Dubai’s most sought–after business and lifestyle destinations.
Art Dubai:
*Art Dubai is the Middle East’s leading art fair for the local, regional and international art world. Since 2007 Art Dubai has championed art and artists from across the Middle East, MENASA (Middle East, North Africa & South Asia) and the Global South, broadening conversations about art beyond traditional Western–led geographical scopes and narratives. In keeping with Dubai’s reputation as a hub for innovation, incubation and knowledge exchange, Art Dubai provides a sustainable platform for artists and meaningful engagement with the rich cultural heritage and contemporary art practices of the region. Featuring Contemporary and Modern gallery sections, annual artist–driven commissions, collector and education programmes and artist residencies, the fair fosters a culture of discovery and new global perspectives. Art Dubai2021 is hosted by Dubai International Financial Centre and is sponsored by Julius Baer. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair’s strategic partner.
Art Dubai 2021 is one of the first major physical art fairs to take place since the pandemic. The fair has returned for its 14th edition, running until Saturday 3 April in a new location under the iconic Gate Building at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), produced in accordance with the highest safety protocols including new innovations to ensure a safe and secure environment.
*The fair will be produced in accordance with the highest Covid-19 safety protocols; holding the event over six days, in a purpose-built structure at DIFC will providethe safest possible environment for exhibitors and visitors by better controlling access and will also allow visitors to take advantage of DIFC’s world-class restaurants and facilities
The fair takes place between 29 March and 3 April. The first three days are by invitation only and the fair will open to the public from 1 –3 April. Access to the fair will be via the new Art Dubai App where tickets can be purchased for AED 25 and children enter for free.
Art Dubai is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai
ART DUBAI 2021
14th EDITION
Fair dates & timings:
Monday, 29 March (Art Dubai Preview, by invitation only)
Tuesday, 30 March (By invitation only)
Wednesday, 31 March (By invitation only)
Thursday, 1 April: 1–9pm
Friday, 2 April: 1–9pm
Saturday, 3 April: 11am–7pm
Location:
Gate Building, Dubai International Financial Centre(DIFC)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
*Tickets are available to purchase via the Art Dubai app. Due to social distancing measures the venue capacity is restricted, it will therefore be mandatory for visitors to book their ticket and time slot in advance. www.artdubai.ae
*Adult tickets cost AED 25. Visitors under 18 years of age and university students can enter free of charge upon booking a child or student ticket.
*The new Art Dubai app is available to download on the App Store and Google Play