Art Dubai Announces Dates For Its Ninth Edition

Art Dubai 2015 will take place in the third week of March, alongside a plethora of art, design and cultural events across the UAE and beyond

Art Dubai, the leading international art fair in the Middle East and South Asia, announced today that its ninth edition will take place March 18-21, 2015, at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Art Dubai has become a cornerstone of the regionâ€™s booming contemporary art scene, both reflecting and acting as a catalyst in its extraordinary international growth over the past decade.

Art Dubai 2014 / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Art Dubai is recognised as one of the most globalised of meeting points in the art world today; the fair places an emphasis on maintaining an intimate, human scale while foregrounding quality and diversity. The fairâ€™s 85 galleries hail from 34 countries, and together present the work of around 500 artists. Carefully selected, curated and presented through three distinct programmes â€“ Contemporary, Modern and Marker â€“ the galleries range from world-renowned dealers to upcoming artspaces.

In March 2014, 25,500 visitors attended the eighth edition of Art Dubai, including 70 museum groups and more than 400 curators and institutional representatives, confirming Art Dubaiâ€™s role as the meeting point in the Middle East and South Asia, and the global fair of choice for the art world.

Art Dubai 2014 / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Art Dubai 2014 / MaÑ—mouna Patrizia Guerresi / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

The 2015 edition of the fair will run alongside Design Days Dubaiâ€“the worldâ€™s most diverse fair dedicated to limited collectible designâ€“plus a myriad of other art-related events, exhibitions and cultural happenings in the UAE and across the region. Next yearâ€™s Art Dubai will also coincide with Sharjah Biennial; the 12th edition of the renowned biennial, directed by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi and curated by Eungie Joo, also opens in March 2015.

â€œBuilding on the success of a phenomenal Art Dubai 2014, weâ€™re thrilled to be working with our partners, galleries, artists, patrons and colleagues to present the ninth edition of the fair in March 2015,â€ said Antonia Carver, Fair Director, Art Dubai. â€œArt Dubai has carved out a unique place for itself in an increasingly crowded artworld calendar and spring 2015 will be a particular time of celebration, given the strength of the programming at the fair and throughout the UAE and beyond.â€

An extensive survey of the visitors that attended Art Dubai 2014 reveals that Art Dubai has built up an unparalleled reputation in shedding light on the arts scenes of the region. Over half the visitors who attended this yearâ€™s fair feel that the selection of galleries presented is what differentiates Art Dubai from other fairs, with over 90% reporting high satisfaction with the quality, as well as the geographic diversity, of the galleries showcased in 2015. 95% of survey respondents felt the 2014 fair was either good or excellent, with 86% saying they would be very or extremely likely to attend the next edition. (According to a survey of 845 visitors that attended the fair in 2014)

Art Dubai will open applications for galleries interested in participating in the 2015 fair on June 1, 2014. Applications are open to contemporary and modern art galleries established for more than two years.

Art Dubai has the largest not-for-profit programme of any such fair, worldwide. Its programming includes commissioned artistsâ€™ projects, a live radio station and cinema; A.i.R Dubai, a partnership residency programme for international and UAE-based artists; the fiveday Global Art Forum, featuring over 40 speakers, plus research, publications and projects; an exhibition of works by winners of the annual Abraaj Group Art Prize; the Sheikha Manal Little Artists programme of childrenâ€™s workshops and tours; and Campus Art Dubai, a yearround art school for UAE-based artists and curators. Full stream videos and documentation of the talks and sessions of the Global Art Forum 2014, titled Meanwhileâ€¦ History, are now available on the Art Dubai website.