Art Dubai (21-24 March) has announced its largest ever programme, with 74 galleries from 32 countries, showing work by over 500 artists.
‘This year’s fair promises to deliver an unrivalled collection of varied yet tailored programmes for everyone, from the world’s leading collectors and art professionals to students and families,’ explained the director of Art Dubai, Antonia Carver: ‘Over the past decade, Dubai has become known as an international art hub’; ‘This growth has been organic, with a scene characterized by enthusiastic, enquiring audiences and dedicated local patrons. Art Dubai is both a catalyst in this development and illustrative of it.’
‘We’ve been proud to see such enthusiasm and support for Art Dubai from gallerists new and old over the past five years, throughout the Middle East and globally; our partners – galleries, institutions, artists, curators, collectors, sponsors and the media – have been the driving force behind making Art Dubai the distinct cultural platform that it has become.’
A major highlight his year will be The Global Art Forum, which is set to expand to six days, and features commissioned projects, from publications and blogs, to conversations, presentations and screenings. In the words of forum director Shumon Basar, ‘The Global Art Forum is a ‘media production’ that features an array of media formats — live, pre-recorded, ongoing— as well as diverse voices, both regional and international, from the worlds of film, journalism, economics, social media, literature, publishing, and of course, art’.
Alongside this initiative is: Art Dubai Projects 2012, the fair’s celebrated interactive programme of curated commissions, films, talks and performances features dynamic new initiatives, this year commissioning Carlos Celdran (Philippines) and Koken Ergun (Turkey) to devise and create interactive performative tours that reflect on the fair’s format and economy; and The Art Week Education Programme, which began in December, and will be putting on monthly art and design seminars hosted at the Pavilion, Downtown Dubai, and accompanied by an internship opportunities across the fields of art and design.
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