{"id":32150,"date":"2024-03-18T09:15:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T07:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=32150"},"modified":"2024-03-20T10:04:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T08:04:43","slug":"the-mood-at-this-years-dubai-art-week-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/the-mood-at-this-years-dubai-art-week-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mood At This Year\u2019s Dubai Art Week 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
From Dubai Art Fair to Alserkal Avenue and Dubai\u2019s Business District, the UAE\u2019s must-go-to art happening takes over the city. This year\u2019s events and exhibitions find common cause with the pressing issues du jour \u2014 the environment and art from the non-western Global South.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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Sophie Kazan Makhlouf<\/span><\/h4>\n

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In the busy foyer of <\/span>Art Dubai<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/a> two enormous, copper pillow shapes of \u201cMeasuring Physicality of Void,\u201d<\/span> 2022 by UAE artist <\/span>Shaikha Al Mazrou<\/span><\/a> are stacked on a black podium, around which thronging fair visitors step or use as a backdrop for endless selfies. Al Mazrou\u2019s sculpture, made from welded copper sheets, are only two of five acquired by the Huna Sculpture Park, soon to open in the city. Huna is a subsidiary of the investment firm behind Art Dubai and so these massive sculptures with their eye-catching, shiny golden glow are a clear indication of the cozy relationship between finance corporate interests and art, that exist here in Dubai and in much of the UAE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Hashel
Hashel Al Lamki, “Silk Road,” NFT, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Interestingly Al Mazrou\u2019s work, which explores materiality and focuses on the contradiction of form and touch, has made her an UAE artist with a prominent international presence. A few steps away from her copper sculpture is <\/span>Hashel Al Lamki\u2019s<\/span><\/a> installation and NFT. \u201cSilk Road<\/span>,<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span> 2022, features a silk painting of the Jebel Hafeet mountains, painted with natural pigments, and massive screens that stretch nearly five meters from the ground. The installation reflects the historic cultural connections and trade routes that have drawn people together. In the shelter of the screens, special chairs and massage therapists were laid on, offering 15-minute massages to fair visitors who had not found themselves in one of the many luxurious lounges offering canap\u00e9s and cocktails laid on by the fair\u2019s many corporate sponsors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dubai Art Week, which takes place over a busy long weekend in the Spring, is always a scramble for artists, galleries and art lovers. It comprises<\/span> Art Dubai<\/span><\/i>, situated in the leafy Arabian fortress hotel of Medina Jameirah, with its busy program of events. In addition, the Al Quoz industrial art district, <\/span>Alserkal Avenue<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/a> holds several late night gallery openings and satellite exhibitions. In the Dubai Business District, even more galleries and auction houses Sotheby\u2019s and Christie\u2019s hold showcase exhibitions. With Ramadan beginning on March 10, a flurry of UAE art activities collided during this art week. Taking place in nearby Sharjah in the former Khalid Bin Mohammed School was the annual <\/span>March meeting art talks<\/span><\/a>, themed <\/span>Tawashujat <\/span><\/i>\u2014 roughly translated as <\/span>weaving together \u2014 <\/span><\/i>\u00a0which considered themes of coordination and working together. The <\/span>Culture Summit in Abu Dhabi<\/span><\/a>, entitled <\/span>A Matter of Time,<\/span><\/i> also coincided with the second day of the fair. This made it tricky and often embarrassing for art lovers to prioritize which events to attend.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Abdullah<\/a>
(l) Abdullah Al Saadi, “The Slipper\u2019s Journey,” rock 24.1, acrylic paint on rock, 33 x 17 x 6 cm, 2015 (Image courtesy of the National Pavilion UAE- La Biennale di Venezia, photo by Roman Mensing). Also 85_Rock_ROC1-1_01pL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UAE\u2019s 2024 Venice Biennial and the Usual Suspects<\/h4>\n

For this reason too, the UAE\u2019s pavilion\u00a0at\u00a0the <\/span>2024 Venice Biennial, <\/span>Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span><\/i>whose official opening is on April 20, had a presence at the fair. The pavilion will include work by the conceptual artist Abdullah Al Saadi. Al Saadi, the National Pavilion UAE\u2019s\u00a0director Laila Binbrek, and her team had a presence at Art Dubai, for Al Saadi to speak about the work and in order underline continuity in the country\u2019s approach to art, nationally and internationally. Binbrek has been at the helm of the\u00a0National Pavilion since 2014, a role that is as much one of organization and tact as one of cultural diplomacy. What is, I asked her, the role of Dubai\u2019s art fair and the development of the UAE\u2019s developing art history?<\/span><\/p>\n

She explained, \u201cWith the art and the architecture pavilions, we continue to ask ourselves what more can we bring and build on to reflect what is happening here and also to inspire our future creatives. [For example] Al Saadi has been one of the artists shaping artistic practices here in the UAE for many years. We see things changing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n