The sixth edition of Art Dubai features 75 galleries from 32 countries, in addition to a new programme of artists' and curators' residencies, commissioned projects, performative tours, workshops, the unveiling of the works by Abraaj Capital Art Prize winners and the critically acclaimed Global Art Forum.
Over the last five years, Art Dubai, the leading international art fair in the MENASA (Middle East/North Africa/South Asia), has become a cornerstone of the region’s booming contemporary art community. In 2011, Art Dubai welcomed 20,000 visitors – including 60 international museums groups - and hosted over 70 galleries from 30 countries.
The sixth edition of Art Dubai takes place March 21-24, 2012, at Madinat Jumeirah, and features 75 galleries from 32 countries, in addition to a new programme of artists’ and curators’ residencies, commissioned projects, performative tours, workshops, the unveiling of the works by Abraaj Capital Art Prize winners and the critically acclaimed Global Art Forum.
Art Dubai is part of Art Week, the umbrella initiative that includes Sikka Art Fair (organised by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, and taking place in Al Bastakiya, March 15-25), Design Days Dubai, and a range of contemporary art and design events, major museum shows, and new gallery exhibitions and artists’ projects, taking place each March. Art Week positions the Gulf as a place of artistic production and home to multiple cultural centres.
We look forward to welcoming you in March 2012.
The fair is held under the Patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, and is run as a joint venture between the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Middle East Fairs Ltd.
Art Dubai Ladies' Day, Wednesday March 21, is held under the patronage of HRH Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Women’s Establishment, Wife of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs UAE.
Art Dubai projects features over 40 international and UAE-Based Artists
Dynamic programme includes new artists' and curator's residencies, commissioned performances and site-specific installations, live radio broadcasts, educational events and video screenings
Art Dubai Projects is a programme of new works and performances that explores
the fabric and economy of an art fair, embracing the theatrical nature of such an
event. In 2012, this critically-acclaimed, interactive programme at Art Dubai (March
21-24, 2012) features dynamic new initiatives: artists’ residencies and site-specific
projects are joined by live, city-wide radio transmissions; a new Performance Night
staged at the fair; plus a unique artist’s project for children.
Artists commissioned to produce new site-specific and performative works for Art
Dubai Projects include Fayçal Baghriche, Yto Barrada, Carlos Celdran, James
Clar, Koken Ergun, Setu Legi, Magdi Mostafa, UBIK and Deniz Üster.
In partnership with The Pavilion Downtown Dubai, The Curatorial Delegation -- a
collective consisting of writer and curator Juan A. Gaitán and Rabat’s L’Appartement
22 founder Abdellah Karroum -- presents Radio for Example (R22-Dubai), a live
transmission of mobile conversations with leading artistic practitioners, recorded on
the move, around Dubai. These interviews will be streamed on Radio Apartment 22
and presented at Art Dubai and The Pavilion.
In keeping with the spirit of collaboration, Art Dubai hosts its inaugural Performance
Night on March 22, in partnership with not-for-profit artspace Traffic. This special
event features artists, poets, musicians, academics, curators, and collectors -- most
of whom are based in the UAE -- including Hala Al Ali, Isak Berbic, Jennifer & Kevin
McCoy, Anahita Razmi, Lantian Xie and WolfPakistan, a self-styled “native-born
Emirati Indian Slash Mexican dance rap group”.
Art Dubai Projects also presents an ambitious series of commissioned interactive
performances reflecting on the fair’s format and economy. In 2012, selected artists
include Manila-based Carlos Celdran, who will perform seven acts in seven different
parts of Art Dubai, offering commentary about issues surrounding geopolitics, arts
and culture, and Koken Ergun, from Istanbul, whose new project involves surprise
performances throughout the fair, employing musicality as a means of
communication.
Created by renowned Tangier-based artist Yto Barrada with designers Zid Zid Kids,
and produced in collaboration with Louis Vuitton, Morocco to the Moon is an
interactive, educational installation and series of workshops for families and children.
Inspired by 1950s sci-fi-- and featuring astronauts, aliens, ray-guns and space robots
-- this trilingual space takes visitors on a whimsical trip to outer-space and beyond.
Also serving as a unique exploration area for children and astronauts of all ages, the
space offers bespoke furniture, fun and innovative play-objects, interactive features,
film projections, and stimulating workshops for children run by world-class visiting
artists.
Other site-specific installations include Pseudophobia, an interactive fortress (or
refuge)-like structure made from sandbags, textiles, pins and mirrors, by Jogjakarta-
based artist Setu Legi, and Oil and Water, a collaboration between artists James
Clar and UBIK which uses an architectural model of a Dubai landmark as a point of
creative departure. Dubai-based UBIK will also present Portrait of an Artist through
his Statements, an edible project that documents the precarious and symbolic
relationship artists share with their bank balance on a daily basis.
This year Art Dubai debuts The Hatch, an ordinary stairwell given new life as a
screening room. This intimate, innovative space features video programmes curated
by Bidoun and Radio for Example, among others, plus artists’ talks and
presentations.
In 2012, Art Dubai, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Tashkeel
launched a new, three-month residency programme, for six artists and a curator. As
part of their residency, artists Fayçal Baghriche (Paris), Magdi Mostafa
(Cairo) and Deniz Üster (Istanbul, Glasgow) have been commissioned to make
major, new site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects. Alongside UAE-based
artists Hadeyah Badri, Zeinab Al Hashimi and Nasir Nasrallah, they are also
creating Open Studios exhibitions that run as part of Sikka Art Fair during Art Week.
In collaboration with ArtAsiaPacific, curator-in-residence Alexandra MacGilp
(London), was selected from an international open call for curators and will spend the
remaining time in Dubai interacting with the artists-in-residence in addition to
engaging in critical research and writing projects.
The six-day Global Art Forum reinvents itself in 2012, and includes a wealth of
commissioned projects and new publications, besides live discussions and
presentations.
DXB Store, a pop-up, not-for-profit venture showcasing products -- artists’ multiples
to jewelry to stationery to design collectibles -- by UAE-based creatives returns to Art
Dubai for its second edition. Selected from an open call by a jury (furniture and
objects designer Khalid Shafar, s*uce co-founder Zayan Ghandour and
designer Manabu Ozawa), the 2012 participants will be announced shortly.
Marker, the section of curated gallery stands, also returns to the fair for a second
edition, this year turning its gaze to the rising Indonesian arts community.
Commissioned by Art Dubai, Jogjakarta-born Alia Swastika invited five Indonesian
galleries to the fair who are now working with their artists to produce new work for Art
Dubai 2012. Galleries include Ark Galerie (Jakarta), Biasa Artspace (Kuta, Bali),
Galerie Canna (Jakarta), D Galerie (Jakarta) and Jogja Contemporary (Jogjakarta).
The Global Art Forum_6 begins at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar,
March 18-19, and continues at Art Dubai March 21-24.
Press contact:
Farah Atoui Press and Marketing Manager,
+971 4 3842009 farah@artdubai.ae
Regional
The Portsmouth Group
+971 4 369 3575
Eileen Wallis: eileen.wallis@theportsmouthgroup.com
Amy Walker: amy.walker@theportsmouthgroup.com
Ibrahim Asran: Ibrahim.asran@theportsmouthgroup.com
Opening Tuesday March 20 18.00 - Unveiling of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize
(by invitation only)
19.00 – 21.30 - Jumeirah Patrons’ Preview (by invitation only)
Wednesday March 21 16.00 – 21.30 Opening Night (by invitation only)
Madinat Arena, part of the beachside Madinat Jumeirah Resort, Dubai, UAE,
Al Sufouh Road (4th Interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road)
Hours:
Wednesday March 21
11.30 – 14.00 - Art Dubai Ladies’ Day*
14.00 – 17.00 - Global Art Forum_6
Thursday March 22
14.00 – 17.00 - Global Art Forum_6
16.00 – 21.30 - Art Dubai Public Day
Friday March 23
12.00 – 19.30 - Art Dubai Public Day
14.00 – 17.00 - Global Art Forum_6
Saturday March 24
12.00 – 17.30 - Art Dubai Public Day
14.00 – 17.00 - Global Art Forum_6
Admission is Dhs50.