Dia al-Azzawi’s composition titled Figures in Red, 1968.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Art Dubai, one of the leading international platforms for art and artists from the Middle East and the Global South, has announced details of the programmes and partnerships for its 17th edition, taking place at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai (Mar. 1 -3, previews Feb. 28 – 29). Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Art Dubai 2024 features an expanded programme of collaborations with local and international partners.

Programme highlights include major new commissions and premières by internationally renowned artists and a very extensive education, talks and thought-leadership programme. The Global Art Forum, Art Dubai’s flagship summit also in its 17th edition, is curated by Shumon Basar and Nadine El-Khoury. The forum will explore the relationship between extreme weather and extreme change.

The fair also has an extensive talks programme featuring Modern and Collector Talks in collaboration with Dubai Collection - the first institutional art collection for the city of Dubai. Additionally, the A.R.M. Holding Children’s Programme, devised by artist Sahil Naik, will have its largest edition, initially launching at the fair before extending to over 100 schools and 15,000 students.

Furthermore, the premiere of Heart Space, a new commission by digital artist Krista Kim, is being presented by Julius Baer as part of their global NEXT initiative. Pablo del Val, Art Dubai Artistic Director, said: “Our programme this year reflects the increasingly diverse and multicultural communities of our home city, providing more opportunities than ever for artists from across the Global South.”

 Cornelia Baltes’s work in acrylic on canvas titled Hob.

Benedetta Ghione, Art Dubai Executive Director, said: “Our year-round education, scholarship, and thought-leadership programmes … create significant opportunities for people from all over the world to build careers in the creative industries in Dubai.”

In the 21st century, extreme weather - from floods, droughts and storms to smog - is no longer limited to what is called “the developing world,” but is happening everywhere. Meanwhile, the threat of extinction elicits urgent innovations — and imagination. Over two days, Art Dubai’s transdisciplinary summit, the Global Art Forum, will present the cultures, technologies, sciences and initiatives around extreme weather and extreme change with many of the world’s leading artists, architects, academics, curators and thinkers.

Titled Whether or Not, speakers include Dr. Stephanie Rosenthal, Director, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; Samir Bantal, Director, AMO at Office of Metropolitan Architecture, Rotterdam; Anne Holtrop, Founder, Studio Anne Holtrop, Bahrain; Monira Al Qadiri, Artist, Kuwait and Berlin; and Gabriel Alonso, artist and researcher, Madrid, among others. Modern and Collector Talks highlight the artistic links made possible by Soviet geopolitics of the Cold War, shifting the focus from Western metropoles and focusing the conversations on the impact of Soviet education and exhibitions on artists from the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

Zooming in on topics including philanthropy, corporate support for the arts and institutional collecting, the Talks will shed light on the forces, strategies and passions that are shaping global arts and culture. Meanwhile, the continuing programme of talks, workshops and events, will take place across all five days of the fair. The A.R.M. Holding Children’s Programme, now in its fourth year, will see Goa-based artist Sahil Naik’s sculptural, architectural and arts education-based practice taking participants on a journey through creation using dioramas, memory and the built environment as sources of inspiration.

Centering on themes of ecology and nature, the workshops will invite children to explore the question: How do younger generations imagine future cities, and what they will comprise? Each year, an artist is selected to develop the workshops, which begin at Art Dubai before expanding to private, government, and special educational needs schools across all seven emirates. The fair continues to run Campus Art Dubai (CAD), a professional development and traineeship programme. Now in its 11th year, the initiative is designed to provide recent graduates with mentorship, masterclasses and hands-on experience across diverse departments. Participants will also benefit from curated tours of leading cultural organisations in the city, helping them enter the art scene.

Art Dubai Commissions feature a series of new performances, where, complementing the fair’s Bawwaba gallery section and curated by Emiliano Valdes, participating artists hailing from the Global South will explore various aspects of the healing process, creating spaces for contemplation and introspection and socially-oriented practices that engage with local communities. Canadian-Korean artist Krista Kim’s Heart Space is an immersive experience that will allow guests to connect with one another through the universal language of the human heartbeat. In real-time, each visitor’s unique heart rhythm will be visualised through hypnotic patterns and meditative shapes displayed across an LED canvas.

The installation puts forward the concept of ‘oneness’, where participants come together to create and be on a single social fabric. Returning partner Piaget debuts the new exhibition The House of Gold, spotlighting gold as the ultimate luxury and a symbol of perfection - which is also central to the brand’s philosophy. The presentation showcases a series of high-end jewellery and watches, patrimony pieces and private collections in a bespoke booth featuring newly commissioned artworks and workshops.

Art Dubai is held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding and is sponsored by Swiss Wealth Management Group, Julius Baer. The event’s exclusive high jewellery and watch partner is Piaget. Culturally driven lifestyle developer HUNA is an Art Dubai partner. Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair’s strategic partner while Madinat Jumeirah is the home of the fair.