Art Dubai 2024 Preview

CARBON 12, Gajah Gallery, LATITUDE 28, NIKA Project Space, bitforms
By Ian Tee

Art Dubai 2023, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo by Spark Media for Art Dubai.

Art Dubai returns for its 17th edition from 1 to 3 March 2024, with previews on 28 and 29 February 2024. The fair will feature more than 120 presentations across four sections: Contemporary, Bawwaba, Modern, and Digital. Bawwaba, which means “gateway” in Arabic, is curated by Emiliano Valdes and features works by artists from the Global South. Notably, works in Bawwaba are created in the past year or specially conceived for the fair. The Modern sector is curated by Dr Christianna Bonin and focuses on artists who studied in Soviet metropoles through Cold War exchanges. Art Dubai Digital explores the intersection of new media art and technology, and is curated by Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti.

One of the programme highlights is a series of commissioned performances and activations that complement the Bawwaba section, under the theme of ‘Sanación/Healing’. The commissions explore the creation of spaces for contemplation as well as socially-engaged practices, with participating artists such as Mirna Bamieh, Hashel Al Lamki, and Mithu Sen, among others.

‘Luxury Retail and Art’, Collector Talks at the A.R.M. Majlis, Art Dubai 2023. Photo by Spark Media for Art Dubai.

Another key programme at the fair is ‘Encounters’, a showcase of significant works by Emirati artists from the Dubai Collection, curated by Alia Zaal Lootah. Dubai Collection is the city’s first institutional collection of modern and contemporary art, built with the support of patrons through a novel loan system. In addition to ‘Encounters’, a series of Modern and Collector Talks is also presented at the fair in partnership with Dubai Collection. 

In this preview, we speak to five galleries to find out what we can expect at their booths.

CARBON 12

Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola, ‘Jamboree’, 2023, durags on wooden panel, 152.4 x 152.4cm. Image courtesy of the artist and CARBON 12.

For Dubai-based CARBON 12, this will be their 13th consecutive participation at Art Dubai. The gallery is presenting works by artists from their roster, such as Michael Sailstorfer, Sara Almehairi, and Anthony Akinbola, among others. Founding Director Kourosh Nouri affirms Art Dubai as one of the most important commercial gatherings on their calendar. “With the level of effort and investment the fair represents, we are aiming to increase the gallery’s visibility, not only commercially but also institutionally,” he says. Concurrently, CARBON 12 is presenting a solo exhibition by André Butzer at their space. Kouroush also teases a unique collaboration between one of their artists and a local brand, which will be unveiled during Art Dubai Week.

Gajah Gallery

Jane Lee, ‘A Floral Rhapsody - 3D, 2D, Morph, Emerge I’ (detail shot). Image courtesy of the artist and Gajah Gallery.

Gajah Gallery, which has spaces in Singapore, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta, is a newcomer to Art Dubai. Their booth will feature works by six artists from Southeast Asia: Ashley Bickerton, Erizal As, Jane Lee, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar and Yusa Martunus. Gallery Director Jasdeep Sandhu cites the region’s growing prominence as a global hub for contemporary art and cultural exchange as a key reason for joining the fair. He elaborates, “The visit from Sheikha Reem Al-Thani, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Museums, to our Yogya space in August 2022 further solidified the importance of fostering connections with the Middle East.”

LATITUDE 28

Manjot Kaur, ‘Riding on the Clouds with my Beloved’ (detail), 2024, gouache and watercolour on paper, 48 x 65cm. Image courtesy of the artist and LATITUDE 28.

New Delhi gallery Latitude 28 will bring a solo presentation by Manjot Kaur as part of the Bawwaba section. Titled 'Ecosystems are Love Stories,' Manjot addresses ecological and historical questions in her reimagined historical miniature paintings. The Indian artist has participated in prestigious residencies at The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard and Jan Van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands. Bhavna Kakar, Founding Director of LATITUDE 28, expresses her excitement for the upcoming edition, “The anticipation is not merely for walls adorned but for narratives exchanged, connections forged, and expectations surpassed.” 

NIKA Project Space

Mirna Bamieh, ‘Sour Things: The Kitchen’ (detail), 2023. Image courtesy of NIKA Project Space. Photo by Ivan Erofeev.

Dubai-based NIKA Project Space is presenting ‘Sour Things: The Kitchen’ an installation by Palestinian artist Mirna Bamieh under the Bawwaba section. The work is the second iteration of her ‘Sour Things’ series, which was first commissioned for the Sharjah Biennale 15. In this version, Mirna maps the functions and mechanics of the individual and social body into the structure of a kitchen. The work is a response to the specific political situation in Palestine that has rendered the artist nomadic for the past decade. Founder Veronika Berezina highlights the role of major platforms like Art Dubai, “Despite the growing importance of online formats, art fairs are still important tools to get the wider public acquainted with galleries. It is especially crucial for new projects like us, who are still growing our audience and collectors.” During the fair duration, NIKA Project Space is also opening an exhibition by New York based artist Katya Muromtseva at their space. It will be Katya’s debut solo show in the United Arab Emirates.

bitforms

Refik Anadol, ‘Pacific Ocean C’, 2022, video (colour, sound), dimensions variable, portrait orientation, 16min loop. Edition 5 of 5, 2 AP. Image courtesy of Refik Anadol Studio.

bitforms, which was founded in New York City in 2001, returns to the fair with a booth in Art Dubai Digital. The gallery will showcase works by Refik Anadol, Claudia Hart and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, among others. Founder Steven Sacks will also be a speaker in a “digital dispatches” talk moderated by Anna Bouali on 2 March 2024, at 4pm at TODA (Souk Madinat, Jumeirah). In this talk, speakers will delve into letters from strangers about their personal experiences with web3 and digital art.

A&M is proud to be an official media partner of Art Dubai 2024. For more information, and to purchase your tickets, click here.

Read our interview with Dr Christianna Bonin, curator of Art Dubai Modern 2024 here.