Art Dubai Announces Gallery Line-Up For 16th Edition

• Art Dubai 2023 will take place from 1^st to 5^th March at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
• 16^th edition will feature over 100 contemporary, modern and digital art galleries from over 40 countries including 30 first-time participants
• Expanded second edition of Art Dubai Digital, this year curated by Singapore-based Clara Che Wei Peh
• Increased participation from leading African and South Asian galleries
• More exhibiting galleries and artists than ever before from Dubai, reflecting the city’s growing importance as an international art world hub

Art Dubai today announced the list of participating galleries at its 2023 edition, which will take place at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai from 3^rd to 5^th March 2023, with previews on Wednesday 1^st and Thursday 2^nd March.

The leading global platform for art and artists from the Middle East and Global South, Art Dubai’s 16^th edition will present over 100 galleries from 43 countries across four gallery sections: Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba and Art Dubai Digital. The 2023 fair will include 30 first-time participants and over 60% of the gallery programme is drawn from the Global South, reaffirming Art Dubai’s position as the leading marketplace for art from this region.

Art Dubai’s Artistic Director Pablo del Val commented:

“Art Dubai is a global fair, and the strength of the applications we received for our 2023 edition reflect Art Dubai’s increasing importance as the region’s premier art event, the gateway to the Global South and the maturing of the art market here in Dubai. We’re particularly pleased to welcome so many first-time exhibitors into the Art Dubai family. Dubai is rapidly developing into a global financial and technology hub – the city is booming, and is a place that generations of people from all over the world call home.”

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. The event is held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding. The fair is sponsored by Swiss Wealth Management Group Julius Baer. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair’s strategic partner.

Art Dubai Contemporary presents the very best in cutting-edge contemporary art from 72 galleries from 33 countries, with particular focus on art and artists from the Global South. For our 16^th edition, we are pleased to welcome 16 first-time exhibitors, including Art: Concept (Paris), Barakat Contemporary (Seoul), First Floor (Harare) and kó (Lagos), Piedras (Buenos Aires), Shrine Empire (New Delhi), Barbara Thumm (Berlin). We welcome more South Asian and African galleries than ever before, and we also welcome back 12 galleries who are returning to Art Dubai after a hiatus. These include ALBAREH ART GALLERY (Manama), Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte (Buenos Aires), Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai), Taymour Grahne Projects (London), GVCC (Casablanca), October (London), and Project 88 (Mumbai). The 2023 edition of Art Dubai will feature 21 Dubai-based galleries, more than ever before, reflecting the continued growth of Dubai’s artistic ecosystem and the Emirate’s increasing importance as a global creative and cultural hub.

Art Dubai 2023 sees the return of Art Dubai Digital, which launched to critical and commercial success at the 2022 fair. This physical section of Art Dubai provides an annual 360-degree snapshot of the digital art landscape, building bridges between the art and technology worlds, and exploring how artists are utilising new, immersive technologies to collapse the boundaries of the traditional art world. The Art Dubai Digital programme will also feature an extensive talks and education programme.   

Curated by Singapore-based educator and arts writer Clara Che Wei Peh, the expanded 2023 edition of Art Dubai Digital welcomes galleries with innovative new media programmes, as well as digital platforms building virtual art spaces, alongside artist collectives, Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) and traditional bricks and mortar galleries that challenge and push forward new models for artistic production and support.

The selection is drawn from across 6 continents, reinforcing Art Dubai’s commitment to presenting global perspectives and diversity, and inviting audiences to look beyond traditional art centres, and mapping out the key agents and platforms leading the way. In close dialogue with the region’s pioneering approach to digital economies and worlds, Art Dubai was the first art fair to initiate a dedicated digital section and to build a new home for artists working across a broad spectrum of digital mediums. Highlights for 2023 will include: Quantum Art (Los Angeles); Window Project (Tbilisi); Afrofuturism (Ikoyi, Lagos); Gallery Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins, Havana, Rome, São Paulo, Paris, Dubai); NFT Asia (Singapore); Unit London; and Dubai-based UAE NFT and Morrow Collective.

Bangkok-based Vipash Purichanont curates the 2023 edition of Art Dubai’s Bawwaba section. Meaning ‘gateway’ in Arabic, Bawwaba exclusively features artworks made in the past year or specifically for Art Dubai, and comprises solo presentations by 11 artists hailing from across the Global South. Across a variety of mediums, from painting and tapestry to filmmaking and performance, this section explores how contemporary artists from the Global South bring forth concerns within their worlds, from socio-cultural issues such as the tension between rapid urban development and traditional values, the legacy of colonisation on environment, human relationships in the age of hyperconnectivity, or personal concerns around the meaning of language and void.

Participating galleries and artists include: Circle Art Gallery (Nairobi) with Dickens Otieno; PARLIAMENT (Paris) with Achraf Touloub; Silverlens Galleries (Manila / New York) with Gregory Halili; Yeo Workshop (Singapore) with Maryanto; and Hunna Art Gallery (Abu Dhabi Sharjah) with Moza Almatrooshi.

The 2023 edition of Art Dubai Modern is curated by Paris-based critic and curator Mouna Mekouar and Italian art historian Lorenzo Giusti (director, GAMeC, Bergamo) and features solo presentations by the region’s Modern masters, reinforcing Art Dubai’s commitment to curatorial scholarship and art historical research. The selection focuses on the pioneers of contemporary art in the MENASA area, whose works are retrospectively playing a key role in today’s art and, by extension, a key role in art history and reflecting the cultural richness and diversity of the region. Art Dubai Modern will be accompanied by a special talks programme,

held in collaboration with Dubai Collection, which will examine the life, work and influences of leading 20th century artists from the Middle East and Africa.

The full programme for Art Dubai 2023 will be announced in December 2022.