Art Dubai 2013

Held under the Patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, Art Dubai has emerged as the leading international art fair in the MENASA (Middle East/North Africa/South Asia) over the last six years. It has become a cornerstone of the region’s booming contemporary art community.

Special events at Art Dubai include Design Days Dubai, the only fair in Asia dedicated to product and furniture design; Sikka, the fair run by Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) and dedicated to new work by UAE-based artists; and Galleries Nights, featuring 40 new exhibitions across Al Quoz and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC); plus other projects, museum shows and major events throughout the Emirates, Qatar and the Gulf.

The seventh edition of Art Dubai took place from March 20 until March 23, 2013, at Madinat Jumeirah. Besides the gallery halls, the fair's extensive program included commissioned projects and performances, artists' and curators' residencies, educational workshops, the unveiling of works by the winners of the annual The Abraaj Group Art Prize and the critically acclaimed Global Art Forum.

Art Dubai is part of Art Week, an umbrella initiative that highlights the plethora of exhibitions, projects and events that now coincide with the fair each March, the most dynamic time in the UAE’s cultural calendar. It includes an extensive not-for-profit programme of curated projects, including artists’ and curators' residencies; commissioned site-specific and performative works; a pop-up radio network; The Hatch, a space for film and video; and a city-wide touring gallery. Each year, the fair also hosts the launch exhibition of works by the winners of the annual Abraaj Group Art Prize.

Founded and produced by Art Dubai, Global Art Forum is presented by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), and is held in partnership with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art (Qatar Museums Authority). This year the forum, directed by Istanbul-based writer/editor HG Masters and commissioned by writer/curator Shumon Basar, explored the concept of ‘definitionism’: investigating the words, terms, clichés and misunderstandings that proliferate in the art world and beyond.

Exhibit 320, New Delhi; Experimenter, Kolkata; Grosvenor Vadehra, London/New Delhi; and Tasveer, Bangalore were among the Indian galleries that featured at the fair.