Dubai: Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Wednesday opened Art Dubai 2009 with an unprecedented line-up of 68 galleries under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The third instalment of Art Dubai will feature almost 2,000 artworks by 465 artists, more than 20 hours of arts-related discussions in the Global Art Forum, and 20 hours of video art installation showing in the underground Art Park.
Shaikh Maktoum honoured the first three winners of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize 2009, selected from almost 100 applications representing artists from every country in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
Shaikh Maktoum was accompanied during his tour of the Middle East's largest and most diverse contemporary art event by Shaikh Majid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, and Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre and Chairman of Art Dubai.
Art lovers will have their calendar full till Saturday as Art Dubai presents a range of programmes at Madinat Jumeirah, from the creation of a huge painting to video art and teaching children to make story boards in film making.
Sixty eight galleries from cities as Beirut, Moscow, Saudi Arabia, Mumbai, London, New York and Sydney are taking part in Dubai's first contemporary art fair.
The events will include the set up of four newly commissioned installations and a series of performances. The installations can be seen throughout the venue and one is "Dream Space" by Egyptian/German artist Susan Hefuna. It is in the form of a three-dimensional "mashribiya", representing the artist's response to "how we see ourselves when inside looking out, and outside looking in", according to the organisers.
Visitors can also view large-scale fibre collections of work of Indian born, Los Angeles-based artist Bari Kumar. The works "speak of the invisibility of America's immigrant workforce".
A series of charcoal forms suspended by nylon threads is inspired by Korean artist Bahk Seon Ghi, and visitors can enjoy Korean Cha-Min Young's mixed media installation "Two Conditions".
Intercultural dialogue is reinforced in performances by British artists Kirstie Macleod, Joumana Mourad and IJAD Dance Company, Qatar-based Roula Haj-Esmail and Indian Shilpa Gupta, which take place throughout the fair at locations including Art Park, the Global Art Forum Tent and the Madinat beach.
"The Art of Magical Jewels," a museum quality exhibition, curated by Van Cleef & Arpels is also on show.
Art Dubai is a subsidiary of the Dubai International Financial Centre and is held in partnership with Abraaj Capital. Madinat Jumeirah is the exclusive hotel partner for the event.
With inputs from WAM
