ART DUBAI WRAPS UP FIFTH EDITION
WITH STRONG SALES AND RECORD ATTENDANCE
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Of the 81 participating galleries, the majority experienced strong sales from the outset with major purchases from international and regional institutions in addition to established and first-time collectors from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the United States. A number of participating galleries, including Chatterjee & Lal and Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai), BISCHOFF/WEISS (London), Kalfayan Galleries (Athens /Thessaloniki), Sutton Gallery (Melbourne), AB Gallery (Lucerne/Zurich), Gandhara-art (Hong Kong/Karachi), Pilar Corrias (London), Dirimart (Istanbul), Priska C. Juschka Fine Art (New York) and GALLERY ISABELLE VAN DEN EYNDE (Dubai) among others sold most of their available works at the fair.
“Never before has there been such a level of international interest in the arts scenes of the MENASA or such a level of regional support for artists and their projects,” said Fair Director Antonia Carver. “Galleries at Art Dubai 2011 reported strong sales and the fair offered an unprecedented level of innovative artists’ projects and educational events, which we feel are part of what makes this fair unique.”
Exhibitors offered positive reports of their experience at the fair, including:
“Art Dubai has been really successful for us,” said Paola Weiss of BISCHOFF/WEISS (London). “I’ve noticed that there is now a solid Middle Eastern collector base. In general people seem more interested in collecting. Furthermore, arts patronage has really started to show.”
“I had a great experience here at Art Dubai and really met a lot of people who are very interested in our work,” said Sappho Ma, Gallery Director, Connoisseur Contemporary (Hong Kong). “And equally important—the fair was satisfying as a human experience; great people, great parties and a great spirit.”
“Despite showing an artist with a proven track record in the region, we were overwhelmed by response both in terms of critical reception and sales,” said Mortimer Chatterjee of Chatterjee & Lal (Mumbai).
The international art world turned out to Art Dubai 2011 in record numbers, including museum groups and representatives from Qatar Museums Authority, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation (New York), MoMA (New York), Tate Modern (London), Hong Kong Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Sotheby’s Institute, Performa (New York) and Cartier Foundation (Paris).
In addition to exploring a range of galleries from 34 countries, guests of Art Dubai witnessed engaging conversations through the Global Art Forum, with speakers including Hans Ulrich Obrist, Rashid Rana, Germano Celant, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and Vasif Kortun. This year’s Global Art Forum Artist-in-Residence, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, devised a trail of bibliographic references for the four days of talks entitled MirrorAudience. The Forum was developed through a partnership between Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH), Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Art Dubai 2011 also saw the launch of MARKER, a new platform for experimental art spaces from Asia and the Middle East, curated by Nav Haq; the third Abraaj Capital Art Prize and Footnote to a Project*, a book project specially commissioned for the prize; Art Dubai Projects, a rich programme of new works and interactive performances; Art Park, curated by Bidoun Projects, which included film screenings, talks, performances and workshops; and Les Voyages Extraordinaires, a museum quality exhibition presented by Van Cleef & Arpels.
For more information, please register at www.artdubai.ae/register-form.php
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Media Queries:
Stephanie Sykes
press@artdubai.ae
