16th Edition of Art Dubai To Be Largest to Date

Throughout the five-day fair, the wide-spread programming will feature presentations from globally renowned galleries, an ambitious talks programme and a dedicated non-for-profit programme featuring Art Dubai’s year-round initiatives.

Artistic Programme
This year the fair offers an expanded gallery line-up of over 130 presentations from more than 40 countries and six continents, presenting some of the art world’s most exciting names across four gallery sections: Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba and Art Dubai Digital. Art Dubai Contemporary will welcome 14 first-time exhibitors including: Concept (Paris), Barakat Contemporary (Seoul) and First Floor (Harare). Art Dubai Digital returns this year following a critically and commercially successful launch at last year’s fair. The 2023 programme will be curated by Singapore-based educator and arts writer, Clara Che Wei Peh.

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. Reinforcing Art Dubai’s commitment to curatorial scholarship and art historical research, this year’s Art Dubai Modern will feature solo presentations by the region’s Modern masters and is curated by Paris-based critic Mouna Mekouar and Italian art historian, Lorenzo Giusti.

View the full list of galleries participating in Art Dubai 2023 here.

Talks and Workshops
Art Dubai’s artistic programme will be complemented by the fair’s wide-ranged multidisciplinary conference and thought-leadership programme. The talks will feature the brightest cultural and creative minds engaging in dialogue, featuring diverse voices and a focus on development of Dubai’s cultural infrastructure. The programme will consist of more than 50 sessions with highlights including: Art Dubai’s flagship Global Art Forum, the first Dubai edition of Christie’s Art+Tech summit, a series of Modern and Collector talks developed in partnership with Dubai Collection and a new event in partnership with the Art Business Conference that focuses on sustainability.

The third edition of the A.R.M Holding Children’s Programme will host workshops over the week that have been specially developed by Swedish artist, Jacob Dahlgren. Entitled The Flag Project, the programme is suitable for children of all ages and includes hand-on workshops, where participants will use everyday craft materials and scrap fabrics, creatively collaging together designs that will later be sewn and transformed into flags. The programme will commence at Art Dubai before expanding to over 90 schools and 8,000 children over two months in what is the UAE’s largest cultural education programme.

Not-for-profit Programming
Campus Art Dubai (CAD), Art Dubai’s flagship initiative to develop the region’s future cultural leaders, is a core component of the fair’s extensive year-round education programme. This year marks the initiative’s 10th year and features CAD Public Art and CAD 10.0 Professional Development.

At the centre of the fair’s not-for-profit programme is Art Dubai Commissions, a platform that invites artists to produce site-specific works at the fair, supporting artistic production by local and international artists. Taking place in a purpose-built space, the 2023 Commissions programme will comprise daily performances and food-based experiences exploring themes of community, celebration, hope and connection.

Art Dubai’s Executive Director Benedetta Ghione commented: “Art Dubai has always tried to reframe what an art fair can be, and this year’s expanded programme fully reflects our role as a meeting point for the region’s creative industries, both commercial and not-for-profit. As an innovative public-private partnership, we have been an incubator of talent, a catalyst for the creative economy here in Dubai, a convener of great minds, and an entry point to this vibrant ecosystem for the wider cultural sector.”

Mark your calendars and get your tickets here. To find out more about the full 2023 Art Dubai Programme visit artdubai.ae.