Art Dubai Digital (supplied pic)
Over 130 contemporary and modern galleries from around 40 countries and six continents are presenting a range of artworks at Art Dubai, 2023. Taking place from March 1st to 5th at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, the fair in its 16th edition, is a premier platform to see and buy art from the global south. Spread across four main gallery sections – Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba and Art Dubai Digital, the fair is the largest and in its most ambitious avatar, this year.
Art Dubai Contemporary features art with particular focus on artists from the global south and includes 14 first time exhibitors and 24 Dubai-based galleries. Art Dubai Modern curated by Paris-based critic and curator Mouna Mekouar and Italian art historian Lorenzo Giusti (director, GAMeC, Bergamo) features solo presentations by the region's modern masters. Art Dubai Digital returns this year after a successful run at the fair last year. The section merges traditional art with new age technology and is curated by Singapore-based educator and arts writer Clara Che Wei Peh. Bawwaba meaning gateway in Arabic, features artworks made specifically for Art Dubai. There are solo presentations from 11 artists and it is curated by Bangkok-based Vipash Purichanont.
Along with the exhibits, there are going to be modern and collection talks, the global art forum, Christie's Art+Tech summit, Chaupal (public space) for daily performances and food-based experiences and A.R.M Holding's children's programmes.
Here is a glimpse of some of the unique exhibits through the lens of MiddleEastMasala
Refik Anadol's Glacier Dreams
Refik Anadol's Glacier Dreams presented in partnership with Swiss wealth management group Julius Baer capturing the beauty and fragility of world's glaciers in a series of multisensory artworks. Anadol is a pioneer in the use of aesthetics of data and machine intelligence.
Adeela Suleman's A Princely Redemption
Pakistani artist Adeela Suleman, represented by Canvas Gallery exhibits tapestry, sculptures and ceramics. Notable among them are A Princely Redemption, a stunning hand painted ceramic plate with enamel paint and an applique artwork showcasing vibrant quilts with motifs native to her region.
Marble Thoub by Naqsh Collective
A marble thoub by Naqsh Collective decorated with brass adornments pays tribute to the Palestinian cross stitch embroidery. The collective is run by Nisreen Abudail, an architect based in a Jordan and her sister Nermeen Abudail, a graphic designer based in Dubai.
Gunjan Kumar's Sifr
Sifr or zero by Indian artist Gunjan Kumar shows the theme of infinite possibilities through the medium of handmade turmeric cones. The Indian artist made numerous handmade cones, by rotating matter like a whirling dervish.
Zico Albaiquni's Exoticism
Indonesian artist Zico Albaiquni's neon coloured work follows some of the recurring themes in his works showing the colonial legacy of Indonesia, the tension between traditional culture and modernity and the social and environmental issues of contemporary Indonesia.
Varunika Saraf's Land That Bleeds
Indian artist Varunika Saraf's Land That Bleeds Watercolour on Lotka paper pasted on cotton textile, tackles rise in violence in contemporary world through the medium of wasli, a Mughal technique of binding together layers of paper.
Kenyan Artist Dickens Otieno's Waves
Kenyan artist Dickens Otieno, Circle Art Agency, highlights the beauty of objects made from discarded things. The artist used tin cans found in informal settlement areas of Nairobi, by shredding the aluminium cans and weaving them into tapestries and sculptures.
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