ABU DHABI // As the Sun set over Abu Dhabi’s port on Wednesday, art enthusiasts and experts converged at an event aimed at attracting collectors.
Six galleries that regularly participate in Abu Dhabi Art, the city’s annual art fair, had set up small booths of low-priced art works.
People started to arrive at Galleries Week as evening fell and the galleries opened their doors. Visitors from across the Emirates came to see the art as well as listen to a presentation about collecting it while a DJ played relaxing music.
“This event is a fantastic idea,” said Salwa Zeidan, an art collector and dealer with an eponymous gallery in Abu Dhabi.
Her gallery was one of the six participating in the event and she had a selection of work in her booth from Emirati artists.
“I made sure to take this event seriously and offer art made in the UAE as this is what the young collectors are looking for,” Ms Zeidan said.
In her booth she had prints from Abdul Qader Al Rais, one of the most prominent artists in the UAE, as well as small works by Fatema Al Mazrouie and some collages by Hussein Sharif, the brother of Hassan Sharif, who died last year and was probably the best-known Emirati artist.
Galleries Week is the first event of its kind in the city. It is a tie-up between Abu Dhabi Art and Warehouse 421, the art hub located in the port.
The idea was to filter the selection of art so that for those looking to start a collection, some of the work was already finished. Although there was a maximum price tag of Dh30,000 set on the artworks on offer, most were much lower than that, with some beautiful etchings by a Tunisian artist Halim Karabibene on sale for Dh3,150 at Elmarsa Gallery from Dubai, and drawings by Emiratis Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim and Nasir Nasrallah at Cuadro Gallery for under Dh10,000.
“For us, this was a fantastic experience,” said Bashar Al Shroogi, the founder of Cuadro gallery. “It changed our perspective and forced us to think about how to present art to a new audience and how to make it accessible. Contemporary art can sometimes be quite intimidating and events like this can help reduce that.”
Also on show were calligraphy pieces by Abdulaziz Al Rashidi at Athr Gallery from Jeddah and some highly detailed pencil drawings by an Italian artist known as Serse, who lives in Trieste in northeastern Italy and draws images of nature such as the sea, the horizon and storm clouds.
“Abu Dhabi has great potential,” said Lilia Ben Salah, the owner of Elmarsa Gallery. “There is a growing art scene here and having something beside the annual art fair for people to come and enjoy and experience art is vital to nurture that growth.”
Galleries Week runs until next Wednesday and as well as the art on sale there is a strong line-up of music performances.
Soul and funk outfit Abri and Funk Radius will be playing on Thursday night and the rock and roll, funk and blues band Carl and Reda Mafia will take to the stage the following night. Sima Dance Company from Syria will entertain audiences on Saturday as will Adam Baluch, a performer who plays the keyboard, guitar and trumpet.
Although the event is aimed at art lovers, anyone interested in art and culture is encouraged to attend.
The event is at Warehouse 421 in Mina Zayed and entrance is free. It will run from 4pm to 10pm today, 3pm to 10pm tomorrow and Saturday, and 4pm to 10pm Sunday through Wednesday. It will be closed on Monday.
aseaman@thenational.ae
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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