Art Dubai 2024 - Dates, Venue and More Info About UAE's Biggest Art Festival

Art Dubai is the leading international art fair in the Middle East, which takes place annually in Dubai. Usually held during the month of March in Madinat Jumeirah, the fair features a diverse lineup of over 90 galleries from more than 40 countries- making it the most globally diverse art fair. Apart from the gallery halls, Art Dubai includes projects of commissioned artists and curators, discussions, residencies, educational initiatives, and other cultural performances, attracting thousands of regional and international visitors and artists. 

Art Dubai 2024 Dates & Venue

Dates: March 1 to March 3, 2024
Wednesday, February 28: 2:00 PM - 9:00 PM (by invitation only)
Thursday, February 29: 2:00 PM - 9:00 PM (by invitation only)
Friday, March 1: 2:00 PM - 9:00 PM (public)
Saturday, March 2: 2:00 PM - 9:00 PM (public)
Sunday, March 3: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (by invitation only); 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM (public)

Venue:
  Madinat Jumeirah Conference & Events Centre, Al Sufouh Road, Umm Suqeim, Dubai

Art Dubai Galleries

The gallery section of Art Dubai is divided into 4: Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba, and Residents. The works presented in the gallery include painting, drawing, installation, sculpture, photography, video, and performance.
  • Art Dubai Contemporary - features commercial galleries operating on the primary market that have been established for at least 2 years. Ranging from emerging art scenes to established centers, solo or group shows are presented by artists from all over the world. 
  • Art Dubai Modern - is devoted to modern art produced between the 1940s and 1980s from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. For its 2020 edition, Art Dubai Modern will feature works by 20th-century masters, where each exhibitor presents a solo or multi-artist show with an aim to contextualize the historical narrative of the artworks. 
  • Bawwaba - Bawwaba, meaning ‘Gateway’ in Arabic, is a unique gallery section featuring individual artists or galleries focused on the Middle East, Central and South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, created in the past year or specifically for the fair. Bawwaba offers visitors a curated reading of current artistic developments across wide geographical scopes.
  • Art Dubai Digital: Art Dubai Digital delves into the fusion of new media art and cutting-edge technologies to broaden our insights into contemporary culture. Curated for 2024 by Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti, co-directors of IAM-Infinity Art Museum in the metaverse and the curatorial and publishing platform Multiplicity-XXnft, this segment continues its exploration of emerging trends in digital arts, AI, AR, VR, and NFTs. Through their expertise, Art Dubai Digital will be presented, showcasing the convergence of advanced technologies and providing prospective approaches for the future of art and its perception.
  • Residents - Residents is a six-week residency program in UAE for artists, hosted by the fair, to engage them with the local art scene, rich cultural heritage, and contemporary art practices of the region. During the resident program, multidisciplinary artists from all over the world are invited to create new works in the fully equipped studio spaces of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The third iteration of Residents at Art Dubai 2020 will focus on contemporary art production from the African continent.

Highlights of Art Dubai 

1. Global Art Forum 

The Global Art Forum is the largest annual arts conference in the Middle East, taking place in Art Dubai. It is an annual transdisciplinary arts conference, combining original thinking of contemporary themes through a series of talks about the future of art, panel discussions, and performances by a diverse line-up of artists, curators, writers, musicians, and thought leaders from around the world. 

2. Art Dubai Commissions

Art Dubai Commissions is a non-profit commissioning platform that invites artists to produce site-specific works by local and international artists. Art Dubai 2020 Commission will introduce site-specific projects on multiple disciplines with an Ecological focus. The commissions will be undertaken in collaboration with the Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai’s leading contemporary art institution.

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3. Art Dubai Modern Symposium

The symposium consists of a series of talks and presentations focused on the life, work, and cultural impact of masters of modern art. Renowned curators and scholars will lead the sessions that delve deep into the styles and influence of 20th-century artists whose work contributes to the history of art.

4. Gulf Now

This section of Art Dubai introduces a network of creative platforms from the Arabian Gulf that work outside of government funding. Selected platforms from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman will be introduced to the fair to discuss current topics and themes on creativity and to give rise to new thoughts and theories.

5. Performances

Every year, Art Dubai presents curated performances throughout the week. The program demonstrates a celebration of togetherness and explores the unifying aspects of communal celebrations and live art as a powerful tool through a series of dances, processions, and festivities.

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6. Educational Initiatives

  • Campus Art Dubai - Campus Art Dubai (CAD) is part of Art Dubai’s year-round extensive program, aiming at providing artists with educational and professional opportunities. CAD has acted as a mentoring school for artists, curators, writers, architects, designers, and cultural producers based in the UAE, allowing the participants to explore the significance of local and regional knowledge through course materials and a series of seminars, lectures, workshops, and off-site visits.
  • Sheikha Manal Little Artists programme - Art Dubai’s non-commercial programme also includes workshops, publications, and discovery tours for children and teenagers, created especially for the fair by international and UAE-based artists. Each March, Art Dubai partners with the Cultural Office to produce the Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program, designed to provide access to skills and ideas for UAE-based children and teenagers aged 5-17 with the long-term aim of encouraging young people to get involved and excel in the arts. 
  • Ithra Art Prize - The Prize is awarded to emerging Saudi-based talent in contemporary arts to fund, promote, and offer Saudi artists a global platform. The winning work is unveiled at Art Dubai each year and later joins Ithra’s permanent collection. 
  • Art Dubai Fellowship - Art Dubai Fellowship is a programme for exceptional artists, curators, and writers working in the Arab world and beyond (the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia), who came together for a week-long series of intensive workshops during Art Dubai. 
As the world’s most international art fair, Art Dubai has a meaningful engagement with the rich cultural heritage as well as contemporary art practices of the region. If you are an art lover and are in Dubai around the time, visit Art Dubai at least once to see the contemporary art pieces from galleries worldwide and learn more about the future of art from world-famous curators.

This post was published by Sriya Ganesh

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