Abu Dhabi Art fair hosts largest and most diverse edition to date

Abu Dhabi Art, organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), concluded its 16th edition (Nov. 20 — 24, 2024), with over 35,000 visitors attending. It was the fair’s largest and most diverse gallery line-up to date, with 102 galleries from 31 countries participating, showcasing over 1,500 artworks. The edition also featured 42 new galleries from Qatar, Kuwait and Kazakhstan, among other countries. Highlights included three new focus sectors: Something Bold, Something New, by Myrna Ayad, a spotlight on modern artists from the region; The Collectors Salon, by Roxane Zand, bringing together galleries presenting artefacts, historical objects, manuscripts and artworks for the first time; and Silk Road: Drifting Identities, by Elvira Eevr Djaltchinova-Malec, joining galleries and artists from Central Asia and the Caucasus. Established Emirati artists represented at the fair included Mohamed Kazem, Hussain Sharif, Hassan Sharif, Azza AlQubaisi and Abdul Qader Al Rais, who have played pivotal roles in shaping conceptual and interdisciplinary art in the UAE.

Abu Dhabi Art also presented seven works In & Around the fair, including Abdoulaye Konaté (Efie Gallery) — the artist blends West African textile traditions with reflections on socio-political and environmental issues; Raed Yassin (Gallery Isabelle) — the artist’s work, City Mirage, used repurposed shop signs, reflecting the city’s economic hardship and the resilient creativity of its people; Rayanne Tabet (Sfeir-Semler Gallery) — T Découpages, a frieze of 114 cut-out sheets from Jules Bourgoin’s 19th-century manuscripts, reimagining the geometries of the works that defined European perceptions of “Arab Art”; Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola (Carbon 12) — the artist explored themes of critical race theory, commodification, and colour theory, addressing epistemic violence in his work; Nike Davies-Okundaye (kó) — the textile artist preserves traditional batik and adire techniques. Her work has empowered thousands of women to learn the intricacies of these crafts; Dima Srouji (Lawrie Shabibi) - the artist combines architecture and art to explore cultural history and collective healing through projects involving archaeologists, anthropologists, and artisans; and Stefano Simontacchi (Salwa Zeidan) — inspired by quantum entanglement, his work The Prism offered a luminous exploration of infinite dimensions.

An artwork at Abu Dhabi Art 2024.

The fair programme also included Beyond Emerging Artists, curated by Lorenzo Fiaschi, an annual exhibition that featured commissioned works by UAE-based emerging artists Dina Nazmi Khorchid, Simrin Mehra Agarwal and Fatima Al Ali; Gateway: Otra Orilla (Another Shore) - the exhibition, curated by Odessa Warren and Carine Harmand, explored connections between the Arab world and Latin America, featuring works by Emilia Estrada, Alia Farid, Francisca Khamis Giacoman, and Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez, as well as a new commission by Mandy El-Sayegh. The Farjam Foundation presented nearly 50 artworks, co-curated by Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet, of award winning and prominent artists in the Arab world including Shafic Abboud, Hamed Abdalla, Salah Abdel Kerim, Etel Adnan, Adonis, Dia Al Azzawi, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Marwan Kassab Bachi, Fatma Baya, Aref El Rayess, Paul Guiragossian, Mohamed Hamidi, Faeq Hassan, Saad Hassani, Adam Henein, Haider Khadim, Helen Khal, Rachid Koraichi, Nja Mahdaoui, Mehdi Moutashar, Mahmoud Mokhtar, Fateh Moudarres, Mohammed Naghi, Samir Rafi, Mahmoud Said, Mona Saudi, Jewad Selim, Fahrelnissa Zeid, and Bibi Zogbe, under the theme Arab Presences: Modern Art and Decolonisation. Paris 1908-1988 - Farjam Collection Close-Up.

Every year, Abu Dhabi Art hosts community partners who contribute to society through cultural production. This year, House of Artisans, located at Qasr Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi, a centre that promotes the preservation of the UAE’s heritage and crafts created from the land’s natural resources, including desert, oases, coast and sea, invited community partners to explore different ways of translating their narrative through symbolism and patterns as a form of communication. Participants in the ‘Crafts as a Language’ project were Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, 81 Designs, Kalimat Foundation, Zayed University, College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, MFA in Art and Media, New York University Abu Dhabi and Sharjah’s 1971 Design Space.

Artwork in Al Ain Oasis.

As part of Abu Dhabi Art’s year-round programme and currently on show is Artist Commissions in Cultural Sites, consisting of installations by Dina Mattar, Ahmed Saeed Al Areef Al Dhaheri, and Manal Mahamid, on view in Al Ain at Al Jahili Fort and Al Ain Oasis, till January 21. Artist Ahmed Saeed Al Areef Al Dhaheri is presenting new and existing works within the historic walls of Al Jahili Fort, centered around Lady Lioness, a mythological figure born from the artist’s childhood memories. For Manal Mahamid, the gazelle holds profound cultural resonance, appearing as a powerful symbol in literature, poetry, and environmental discourse. In her sculpture for Al Ain Oasis, Mahamid contemplates the shared heritage of the gazelle in the UAE and the Levant.

Dina Mattar presents a new body of work that includes painting, tatreez embroidery, and works on paper. Her references to the gazelle also abound, drawing on diverse associations of the animal with stories, legends and landscape, including plants and flowers. Partners of Abu Dhabi Art 2024 included Aldar; HSBC; The Farjam Foundation, which also sponsored the Abu Dhabi Art Talks Programme, that included a focus on three panel talks featuring prominent speakers, covering a wide range of topics from Arab Modernism to cultural diplomacy; Abu Dhabi Motors, which commissioned Omar Al Gurg to create Majlis Fann space for talks and performances throughout the fair; Al Fardan; Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative (FBMI), which highlighted the visionary works of Emirati artists Khalifa Ahmed and Dr. Najat Maki; and Memo Paris.