Art Dubai 2024 focuses on diverse galleries and artists from the Global South

From March 1-3, Art Dubai will be returning for its 17th edition to Madinat, Jumeirah in Dubai, held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE. This year’s edition will feature over 100 galleries from across 40 countries within and beyond the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) region. These will be shown at Art Dubai’s four gallery sections - Art Dubai Contemporary, Art Dubai Modern, Art Dubai Digital and Bawwaba.

In a press release, Pablo del Val, Artistic Director of Art Dubai, remarked, “Over nearly two decades, Art Dubai has grown to become the major marketplace and platform for galleries from non-Western art centres. Once again, over 60 per cent of our programme is drawn from the Global South, presenting the best galleries and telling the stories of the leading artists from this region – making Art Dubai unique amongst art fairs in the communities it serves.” He expressed that 2024’s exhibitor list should reaffirm the continued growth of Dubai’s art scene, along with Art Dubai’s ongoing commitment to platforming new media and under-explored regional art practices. The rest of the art festival’s leadership include Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director, Art Dubai and Hala Khayat, Regional Director, Art Dubai.

Art Dubai Contemporary presents leading global contemporary art practices. The 17th edition brings together 72 exhibitors, many of whom are presenting at Art Dubai for the first time. These include Peres Projects, with locations in Berlin, Seoul and Milan, Gajah Gallery from Singapore and Voloshyn Gallery from Ukraine. Returning galleries will include Aicon Gallery, New York, presenting Pakistani artist Aisha Khalid; Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai, bringing together works by several artists from India, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and France, and Yeo Workshop, Singapore with a group presentation that focuses on Southeast Asian heritage. Some big names such as Nature Morte and Vadehra Gallery from Delhi will be returning to the fair after a hiatus. There will also be 21 exhibitors at Art Dubai from the emirate, the largest representation of its kind by the fair, to date.

Art Dubai Modern is led by Dr Christianna Bonin, Assistant Professor of Art History, American University of Sharjah, and explores the effects that cultural exchange programs conducted by the former Soviet Union have had on the arts communities of the MENASA region. Art Dubai Modern proposes links between distinct nations including Syria and Ukraine, highlighting the growing artistic output of cities such as Kyiv and Cairo. Galleries and artists featured here include Agial from Beirut, Lebanon showing Wahib Beteddini and Abdul Mannan Shamma, who are from Lebanon and Syria respectively, Mark Hachem, with locations in New York, Paris and Lebanon, presenting Egyptian artist Hamed Abdalla, and Leila Heller, Dubai showing Armenian artist Marcos Grigorian, among many more.

Art Dubai Digital returns for its third year in 2024. Expansion/ Diffusion is co-organised by the curator, writer, publisher and broadcaster Dr Alfredo Cramerotti, and curator, art advisor and art collector Auronda Scalera. This year’s edition will continue to focus on the broad scope of the digital arts landscape in MENASA and beyond. Inspired by American astronomer Edwin Hubble’s discovery that the universe is expanding, Art Dubai Digital emphasises practices that consider “the field of art and advanced technologies (AxAT),” as the press release notes. Digital will give audiences a snapshot of bleeding-edge techart’s current juncture, and explore the possibilities of the field’s rapid growth. Over 20 presentations of new media art will activate artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR) among other facets of digital technology. Major highlights to look forward to include Unit London’s presentation of the digital artist Krista Kim, Linda Dounia and Studio Meeson, bitforms gallery, New York’s exhibition of Manfred Mohr, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Refik Anadol, and a show by MORROW collective, Dubai, titled {R(Evolutionaries);}.

Finally, the Bawwaba (“gateway” in Arabic) gallery section focuses on artworks created in the last year, by artists from the global south. Sanación / Healing is curated by Emiliano Valdés, Chief Curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MAMM) in Medellin, Colombia, and presents works that explore healing across personal, social, political and historical levels. Galleries and artists will include Anant Art, India’s showcase of Laxmipriya Panigrahi, A arte Invernizzi Art Lab, Italy’s presentation of Argentinian artist Nicolás Janowski and Perve, Portugal bringing works by Reinata Sadimba of Mozambique, among others.

These are just a few of the artists and galleries to look out for Art Dubai’s 17th edition. While visitors to the art event will be hard-pressed to take in everything that Art Dubai 2024 has to offer, these points of interest should provide a broad and promising look at the current state of art across MENASA.

STIR is a Media Partner with Art Dubai 2024, taking place at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, from March 1-3. Click here to read STIR's exclusive coverage of the 17th edition.