Art Dubai, an annual international contemporary art fair taking place each March at the Madinat Jumeirah, is preparing for its third year in March 2009. In its initial two years the event established itself as the leading art event of the region, bringing together top commercial galleries from thirty countries exhibiting work by more than 540 artists as well as a host of international visitors - ranging from art professionals to collectors and a culturally engaged public.
The unique quality of Art Dubai is the variety of subsidiary projects and events that take place throughout the week. The Global Art Forum is fast becoming the Middle East's leading cultural platform, with fifty of the global art community's most respected curators, collectors and artists coming together in candid debate, presenting and disputing their ideas of where the region is positioned in the international arts scene. Speakers ranged from Glenn Lowry, Director of MOMA, New York, Rem Koolhaas, Architect from Rotterdam who is involved in a number of projects in the UAE and artists such as Daniel Burren and Ai Wei Wei.
Art Dubai 2009 will see the display of the winners of the first year of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize. In both 2007 and 2008 a number of innovative art projects and commissions were displayed across the venue; on the water terraces surrounding Fort Island and Jumeirah Beach. The car park was transformed into 'Art Park'; a venue for video work by a host of artists such as Kader Attia, Lida Abdul and Idris Khan and installations by artists such as Jitish Kallat and Khalil Chishtee. Bidoun commissioned an Artist Cinema and local design agency Traffic designed the Bidoun lounge. 2008 saw the first curated project, Salima Hashmi curated 'Desperately Seeking Paradise' including work by the leading artists from Pakistan working today. Other artists who have displayed their work as part of Art Dubai include Wim Delvoye, Tarek Zaki, Lawrence Weiner, Amir H. Fallah, Sunil Gawde, Subodh Kerkar, Nadim Karam, Parviz Tanavoli and Lara Baladi.
Art Dubai encourages the whole arts community of Dubai to display the best of contemporary art from the region and abroad so that international visitors can see the wealth of talent here. The Creek Contemporary Art Fair, established by the XVA Gallery based in Bastakia, Bur Dubai is a satellite fair displaying the work of a number of artists in houses in the historical quarter of Dubai. DIFC held a 'Season of Arts' during March and the Jam Jar operate the Art Bus, taking visitors to the city on a tour of the highlight sites across the city. In 2009 for the first time, Sharjah Biennial will open the day before Art Dubai and will be the fairs main partner, ensuring that all VIP and Press guests to the region will attend both events. Since Art Dubai 2008 a number of new gallery spaces have opened, for example Ayam Gallery from Damascus, Syria now have a spectacular space in Al Quoz which is growing to be the commercial gallery centre of the city with a host of more established galleries based here such as The Third Line, B21, Meem Gallery. With an aim to be inclusive instead of exclusive in their approach, Art Dubai is evolving as a platform for talent and artistic innovation in the region and further afield.