ABDULLAH AL TURKI, PATRON OF ART DUBAI DISCUSSES THE FAIR AND THE REGION

Abdullah al turki
 

I have to say that the teams working behind Art Dubai are extremely talented and blessed with a unique eye.  We have to give Art Dubai credit for being the first art fair in the world to be promoting Middle Eastern art in such high and professional levels. The program is progressing every year and adding more interesting projects and talks for the increasing number of visitors.

The collectors get a chance to meet with the artists to understand and listen to their ideas and vision. The number of galleries is always on the up side and Art Dubai never fails to surprise by announcing new participants from different countries. Last year, for example, I was very happy to see Athr gallery in the fair; the first professional art gallery coming from Saudi Arabia, focusing on displaying their local artists.

The fair created a buzz in the whole region and pushed a button that initiated so many different art-related projects. Look back to before 2007 and see where the Middle Eastern art market is standing now!

Art Dubai is certainly amongst the top 5 art fairs globally.

Art is a common language and I think all forces should unite in order to produce the best they can. Dubai as a city proven itself internationally in the past 10 years and became a long-standing fixture on the world's map. I don't believe that the region needs more than one art fair, but if there is; then they have to be offering different angles. The world doesn't need another art fair displaying international art but they will always be drawn to explore talents coming from new regions and showing new subjects. 

I think the local collectors are ready now to view new artworks by international galleries as they have developed a good knowledge of the ME art. Still the portion of our region's collectors is very minor when compared to their international peers, so the main focus of Art Dubai should remain on the MENA region.

Absolutely, the interest in culture and education been increased tremendously in the past three years. Governments are now committed on projects that will change the art world map in the coming few years and I believe that the best is still to come.

Its very important to be a patron of Art Dubai or any other art related institution/project because by this we can help in building the infrastructure of the whole ME art world. The Middle East is currently the hottest topic when it comes to politics, business or culture; so everyone should work in the best way they can.”


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