Art Dubai opens its seventh annual session

Artists, collectors, gallerists and enthusiasts from all over the world are converging on the city. And tomorrow, when the annual art fair opens, the event will take another step towards cementing itself on the international circuit.

The artist Ehsan Ul Haq with his 12 donkeys sculpture for Art Dubai. Charles Crowell for The National

Now in its seventh year, Art Dubai is one of the most globalised fairs in the world with more than 30 countries taking part. There are international names such as Pace and Victoria Miro from London and local ventures, The Third Line from Dubai and Grey Noise, a Pakistani gallery that opened a space in Dubai last year. Antonia Carver, the director, says the success is representative of the growth of the art market.

However, it is not sales over substance. The participating galleries have to pass through the watchful eyes of the selection committee and this year, Art Dubai has the largest non-profit section to date with 13 commissioned artists and more than 40 artists and curators involved in Art Dubai projects.

In Marker – a series of curated concept stands with an annual focus on a different geographical area – the Nigerian curator Bisi Silva has brought the audience the story of rapidly evolving cities in West Africa and Carver, who has been leading the fair since 2010, has ensured the fair has a comprehensive outreach programme for the community.

Global forum

Alongside the main fair is the interactive and engaging Global Art Forum, which brings together artists, musicians, writers and thinkers for a six-day regional discussion and cultural debate.

Hosted by Dubai Culture, the forum began on Sunday at the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha and continues in Dubai from tomorrow until the end of the fair.
This year, Global Art Forum is directed by the Istanbul-based writer and editor HG Masters and commissioned by the writer and curator Shumon Basar. Under the title It Means This, the forum will explore the concept of "definitionism", investigating the words, terms, clichés and misunderstandings that proliferate the art world. Each session or element will focus on a key word and will be interspersed with commissioned piece of art. Participants are varied: they include academics such as Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political scientist based in Dubai and celebrities such as the former REM lead singer Michael Stipe, who is now forging a career as an artist.

• Art Dubai begins tomorrow and runs at Madinat Jumeirah until Saturday. Visit www.artdubai.ae