Art Dubai now presents established galleries and emerging technologies
- Last updated: December 14, 2024 | 10:10
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Art Dubai, one of the most significant global art gatherings in the Middle East, has announced the line-up of exhibiting galleries for its 2025 edition, taking place at its home base in Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai (Apr. 18 – 20, 2025, previews on Apr. 16, 17). Art Dubai is 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. Exhibitors in Art Dubai’s Contemporary, Bawwaba, Modern and Digital sections number over 100, have representation in more than 50 cities, and the upcoming edition of the fair will welcome over 20 first-time participants. “The geographic breadth of the exhibitor line-up reflects Art Dubai’s role as a gateway for discovery, learning and exchange and its ongoing commitment to showcasing art and artists from less-represented geographies,” say the organisers.
The 2025 edition of the fair sees continued strong representation from artists and art centres across the Middle East, the African continent, and West and South Asia. The working expansion and development of Dubai’s cultural scene, and the city’s status as the Gulf region’s financial and commercial hub, is also reflected in the number of Dubai-based exhibitors (over 20) and the growing number of Emirati- and UAE-based artists showing at the fair. Pablo del Val, Art Dubai’s Artistic Director, noted that “Dubai is the centre of the Middle East region’s art market and the city continues to develop at an incredible pace ... In an increasingly challenging world, these artists and galleries play such an important role in telling the stories of the migrations and exchanges that are shaping the future world around us.”
First-time exhibitors in Art Dubai’s 2025 Contemporary section include Bortolami (New York), Cortesi Gallery (Milan/Lugano), Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art (Lisbon), Don Gallery (Shanghai), La Galerie 38 (Casablanca/Marrakech), Mizuma Art Gallery (Tokyo), Pedro Cera (Lisbon/Madrid), Richard Saltoun (London/Rome/New York), Galería MPA (Madrid), Galeria RGR (Mexico City), and Karpuchina Gallery (Prague). Bawwaba (meaning “gateway” in Arabic) focuses on curated solo presentations of artworks made in the 12 months prior to, or for, Art Dubai. Bawwaba 2025 is curated by writer and curator-at-large at Kunsthaus Zürich, Mirjam Varadinis. The section will show artists who reflect on their own displacement, and imagine new ways of living together. Notable solo presentations include Kate Newby (Art: Concept), Gulnur Mukazhanova (Aspan Gallery), and Tomás Saraceno (Pinksummer).
Art Dubai Modern’s 2025 edition is curated by Magalí Arriola, art critic, and Director at Museo Tamayo, Mexico, and Nada Shabout, Art History Professor at the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Initiative at the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, U.S. Highlights include presentations by New Vision Group (Meem Gallery); Bertina Lopes (Richard Saltoun); and Mehdi Moutashar (Lawrie Shabibi). For the first time, Art Dubai Modern includes an artist from Latin America - Venezuelan artist Darío Pérez Flores (Mark Hachem), reflecting common concerns and empathies between Latin America and West Asia and North Africa.
Art Dubai Modern features presentations by the region’s Modern masters, reflecting a commitment to art historical research and under-explored and unsaid art histories. The artists have been influential in the 20th century, and their works play a key role in forming an understanding of the current cultural landscape. Migration, Arab diaspora communities, geopolitical challenges and anti-imperial struggles, led to strong cultural affinities and solidarities between West Asia and North Africa and other postcolonial regions around the world, during the 20th century. The different countries, in their search for modern and national identities, saw heritage and the past becoming instrumental in negotiating the new realities.
Highlights of Art Dubai Digital 2025 includes presentations by established international galleries in digital art like Hafez Gallery, HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art), TAEX, Sevil Dolmaci and GAZELL.IO. In addition, the section features collectives and platforms including MORROW collective, Holy Club, Immaterika and an artist-led booth by BREAKFAST Studio. Among Dubai-based exhibitors are Mondoir Art Gallery, Monada Art Gallery with 10101.art and espace, which will feature a solo presentation by sculptor Andrés Anza.
Now in its fourth year, Art Dubai Digital is dedicated to pioneering artists, collectives, galleries, and platforms. It enjoys a broad geographic base and diverse perspectives, and features new commissions, talks, educational workshops and singular showcases, exploring how innovative artists and creative practitioners work with advanced technologies - such as artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual and augmented reality – to interrogate the key environmental, social and political challenges of our time. Titled ‘After the Technological Sublime’, in reference to the awe and wonder evoked by monumental technological innovations, Art Dubai Digital’s 2025 edition expands the traditional notion of the sublime — once used to express amazement and fear of natural forces — to human-made creations.
From the internet to artificial intelligence and quantum computing, technological advancements inspire admiration for human achievement; yet they also provoke anxiety, as they may slip through control, and divert attention from critical environmental, social, cultural and political issues. Art Dubai Digital’s 2025 edition is curated by Gonzalo Herrero Delicado, independent curator and a lecturer at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art in London.
Art Dubai is held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding. It is sponsored by Swiss Wealth Manager, Julius Baer. Art Dubai’s Watch and Jewellery partner is Piaget; HUNA is a partner of the fair. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is strategic partner of Art Dubai and Art Dubai Digital.