This year, Art Dubai, the top International art fair in Dubai, is back with a collection of cutting-edge works from all around the world. As a forum for discussion about art on a global scale, Art Dubai offers a setting for the curation and exposure to works of art from the Middle East and the surrounding area, a place for new and emerging artists to start their careers, and a discussion space for Western-dominated narratives while facilitating engagement with contemporary art practices from a variety of countries and traditions.
Artwork from 40 different countries, including 30 first-timers, will be featured in Art Dubai’s exhibition program’s Modern, Contemporary, Bawwaba, and Digital sections this year. The programme examines the connections between art, design, music, and other mediums in its digital component. It also looks at emerging art movements and significant modern art from the Global South.
International artists are invited by the A.R.M. Holding Children’s programme every year to work with kids in specially designed workshops at the fair and in schools throughout the United Arab Emirates. Jacob Dahlgren, the artist chosen for this year, will inspire kids to think critically about their surroundings through the Flag Project programme. Children will imagine and collage designs that will later be turned into flags using common craft supplies and leftover fabrics.
The inaugural Dubai public art open call will take place this year. In order to submit suggestions for the inaugural commission for Dubai Public Art, a recently created project by Dubai Culture, applications have been opened for artists in the UAE. The city will get a succession of massive site-specific artworks produced by artists in the UAE as part of this multi-year programme. The inaugural commission taking place through Dubai Culture with commissioning entity Art Dubai will be unveiled in Al Hudaiba, one of the most picturesque public gardens in the city, in late 2023, with a view of the Union House and Etihad Museum.