Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, the 13th edition of the Abu Dhabi Art Fair ran from Wednesday 17 November to Sunday 21 November 2021 at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi.
The annual art fair is the culmination of the year-round visual arts program. The fair brings together several local and international galleries offering artworks for sale which are shown alongside exhibitions, artist commissions, and installations both at the fair and across the emirate.
Organized by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT), the fair returned in its physical form and featured a diverse line-up of 49 galleries from 19 countries, representing more than 190 artists from around the globe and presenting over 600 artworks – bringing exceptional presentations to their booths.
This year’s edition featured 14 new galleries joining from Colombia, France, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, as well as a rich curated fair program experience, including Kind of Blue, a curated sector for the art fair by Simon Njami; the Performing Arts Programme, curated by Rose Lejeune; and the Beyond: Emerging Artists program, curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath.
Commenting on this year’s Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi said, “Gathering safely in-person for this 13th edition of Abu Dhabi Art in Manarat Al Saadiyat is a testament to the collective efforts of those across the arts and culture sector of Abu Dhabi and beyond. Our thanks to the many distinguished guests, partners, exhibitors, curators and artists who are joining us in Abu Dhabi, a nexus of multinational talent where the next generation of emerging artistic voices are given a crucial platform to contribute to a sustainable arts and culture ecosystem.”