The power of art to heal

Art Dubai has returned to Madinat Jumeirah this year, with its most extensive list of participating galleries to date. The fair opens to the public on March 11 and runs until March 13. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

Photographer Dia Mrad at the Zawyeh Gallery booth where his works are on view.

The Postmasters booth at Art Dubai's inaugural digital art section.

Aicon Gallery's booth features a solo presentation of works by Indian modernist KS Kulkarni.

Volte Art Projects’ booth includes works by Nalini Malani, Wim Delvoye, Anish Kapoor, Sujata Bajaj, Studio Drift and more.

Green Art Gallery's booth at Art Dubai includes works by Maryam Hosseini.

Tonia Nneji’s paintings at Rele Gallery.

Murat Palta's miniature paintings at the X-ist Istanbul booth at Art Dubai.

Canvas Gallery is showcasing vivid works by miniaturist Wardha Shabbir.

Commissioned work by James Clar at the Julius Baer lounge at Art Dubai.

Agial Art Gallery is presenting works made from 1930-1975 by the late Lebanese artist Bibi Zogbe

This year's Art Dubai includes more than 100 contemporary, modern and digital galleries from 40 countries.

Works by Mit Jai Inn at the Silverlens booth.

Art Dubai is presenting its inaugural digital art section, with 17 galleries specialising in the medium, as well as NFTs.

Works by Radhika Khimji at the Experimenter Kolkata booth.

Art Dubai features commissioned presentations that can be found throughout Madinat Jumeirah.

More than half of the galleries are made up of names from the Global South, as the fair furthers its aim of becoming the go-to for art outside of the typical western circuit.

Among the highlights of this year's fair is the modern section curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, who opted for muted gray walls instead of the usual bright white.

Art Dubai Digital will be the fair's first digital art section.

Three galleries from Tehran will bring together artists that have shown with them in the past.

A visitor during a preview of Art Dubai 2022.

It is not a new idea that art can be an instrument of healing and a tool to process trauma. Turning towards art may not alleviate pain or provide tidy answers, but it can go some way to help people cope with loss. Most often these losses are not within our control – everyday sorrows, separations, death of loved ones, pandemics and wars. Expressions found in art can offer solace, or recognition, or simply be a pillar to turn to in our quest for meaning in the complexities of life and in the all-too-often grim realities of the world.

Often, in galleries around the globe, a visitor might sit for several minutes on a bench in front of a Fahrelnissa Zeid painting or a Rothko, tremendous works that might evoke in one feelings that are perhaps otherwise difficult to access.

The permanence of a work of art is especially valuable when juxtaposed with the pervasiveness of social media, the fleeting nature of our digital feeds and the world of "hot takes", where something trending today can disappear tomorrow. A painting, though, follows different rules – its essentially tangible characteristic is at odds with ephemerality.

Which is why the return in physical form of an event such as Art Dubai over the weekend is so important. Back after two years, it has given the people a chance to interact with works, or even a singular work, that can often resonate differently from a social media post, even a post or a story on art, compacted to fit our devices.

Notwithstanding the huge popularity of NFTs, the importance of such physical access to art is highly relevant in a society that values and honours the work of artists, not just locally or in the Middle East, but from around the world.

Over the course of Covid-19 lockdowns, access to art was restricted, as was much else. And despite the availability of digital museum tours and apps and innovations that allowed people access to art on their screens, the experiences often do not really compare with seeing the actual work in front of you.

In facilitating direct access to viewers, events such as Art Dubai enable an important connection between viewer and artist. And the return of such programmes in their physical form is good for not just those associated with the art world, but for regular visitors seeking insights into contradictions that exist in our worlds. Art on display can be an inroad into different ways of thinking, some of which can be difficult to fathom by absorbing mere information. That is the power of art: for something in the work of an artist to speak to something in us, and offer – if not clarity or comfort – a different perspective.

Visitors stand in front of a painting by British artist Marc Quinn (Himnalayan Spring) on display during the 15th edition of Art Dubai at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, on March 10. AFP

And nor are these new ideas for the UAE, which has been making more room for the arts over the years. Just last year, before the country's Golden Jubilee, the UAE unveiled a National Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries, as part of the goal to increase the economic contribution of the cultural and creative industries to at least 5 per cent of GDP in the next 10 years.

The country continues to make strides in being an attractive place for creatives, through measures that include strengthening copyright laws to protect people working in the arts. Last December, Noura Al Kaabi, the Minister of Culture and Youth, said the UAE had become a "fertile ground to all those who want to innovate, create and live in an open and tolerant society".

In helping societies to have more access to art – and more physical spaces to showcase the variety of art that exists in our world – we allow diversity and a breadth of understanding to reside among us.