Seeing the bigger picture

The success of artparis-AbuDhabi shows the capital has the potential to become a player on the international scene.

The art is being packed away, the 100 invited international collectors have dispersed across the globe, the buzz of newly discovered artists hangs in the air and planning is already under way for artparis-AbuDhabi 2009. By every measure, the capital's second annual art fair was bigger and better than the first but the question remains: where to from here for the festival and for Abu Dhabi's ambition to be the cultural centre of the Middle East?

For some of the collectors invited to the art fair, Abu Dhabi can evolve into a home for a thriving artistic community to match the grand architecture planned for the cultural district on Saadiyat Island. But they also warn there are pitfalls ahead which threaten the prospects for a bright future. For Don and Mera Rubell, named by ARTnews magazine last year as among the top 200 art collectors in the world, attending artparis-AbuDhabi was a transformational experience. They arrived with the usual mix of preconceptions but left not only with their eyes opened to the art world in the Middle East but also as enthusiastic champions of Abu Dhabi's vision.

"We're ambassadors, absolutely," said Mera. "By bringing the Guggenheim and the Louvre here, I think it sends a message of 'We'll bring what you cherish here and we hope you'll reciprocate'. I'm excited to extend reciprocal generosity. That's the beauty of it." The Rubells - he a gynaecologist, she a teacher - inherited a fortune in the late Eighties from Mr Rubell's brother, Steve, one of the founders of the New York club Studio 54. Today, the Rubell Family Collection, housed in Miami and open to the public since 1996, includes work by many of the world's leading artists.

Don Rubell urged the organisers to create a committee dedicated to creating a collection from the art on display, saying it would not only ensure the viability of artparis-AbuDhabi but would also help to establish a collection of local, regional and international art worthy of the Dh100 billion (US$27.2bn) cultural centre on Saadiyat Island. "Somewhere in four to seven years' time, Abu Dhabi will have one of the great institutions in the world," he said. But, "I don't think it's sufficient to just show work from elsewhere. I think seven years is a luxury of time in which to be building a collection, internationally and from this region.

"The easiest and most successful way to do it is at this art fair; it will be a win-win situation." Martin French, another contemporary art specialist invited to artparis-AbuDhabi, endorsed the Rubells' vision but said the capital city would become a true cultural centre only if it invested in young talented artists to match the buildings planned for Saadiyat Island. He envisaged up to 300 emerging artists, selected locally and from around the world for six-month residencies, living in a specially created community in Abu Dhabi.

"They have these huge brand museums and if you are looking at an ambition to create Abu Dhabi as a centre for contemporary art, then it's got to be a living and thriving community rather than just importing foreign museums," he said. "You'd have international artists working together with local artists. I'd imagine people from the eastern Mediterranean to India, but some from the US, Europe, China and Japan. There needs to be a relaxed atmosphere and to allow it to permeate into the community but with the necessary respect for local sensitivities. The artists who come here would be influenced by Abu Dhabi and be talking about it and export their experiences in Abu Dhabi through their artwork."

That, he said, "would really put Abu Dhabi on the map". The model, he said, was Beijing: "Chinese contemporary art has really burst through with very significant artists who are world-quality top artists. That just wasn't there five years ago. The reason is that Beijing has a large and thriving artistic community. It isn't something that can be manufactured - it has to be developed and grown." Mr French said the Rubells' plan for an international committee, with local representation and a commitment to buying art, had already been shown by them to be a successful way to import a major European art festival into a different venue. Art Basel is an annual Swiss festival which has been likened to the Olympics of art, but now Art Basel Miami Beach is bigger than the original in size.

"When the Rubells encouraged Art Basel, one of the ways they did that was to get together with some of the other big local collectors to commit to buying a certain amount of art," he said. "For Abu Dhabi, I think it's very important for local wealthy families or the Government to make sure a reasonable amount of art is purchased at the fair. It could be with a committee or informally. You could get some of the local companies to buy corporate art." It was, he said, "important that the dollars flow" to ensure that it was profitable for galleries to come to the fair.

When Forbes Magazine ran an article last week about up-and-coming art fairs, it previewed artparis-AbuDhabi and said many believed the Middle East was "where it's at? in terms of profitability for both dealers and artists" and cited the 42 per cent increase in the number of galleries represented at this year's art fair, compared with 2007. But Mr French said the prices being charged posed a threat to the viability of artparis-AbuDhabi. Some of the emerging artists, he said, were seeking prices that were out of synch with the world art market. One artist in his twenties had been asking US$50,000 (Dh184,000) for a piece.

"Charging $50,000 is just silly," he said. "Even at the peak of the market for unknown artists, I'd expect $15,000 tops for someone who hadn't had a significant solo show." In New York, prices for emerging artists had slumped with the meltdown in the financial markets. He said the tariff for a promising emerging artist's work in that city would now be back to be around $8,000. Another of the invited collectors, the YouGov founder and chief executive Nadhim Zahawi, left the event enthused by Abu Dhabi's plans but also said he believed the prices being charged at the show posed a risk to the viability of the event.

"The one aspect I see that is a little bit worrying is there seems to be inflationary pressure in terms of prices, especially on some of the new Middle East artists, which could spoil the party," he said. "You need to ensure that you don't end with people in a false market, where prices are inflated and then there's a crash which could leave a very bad taste in the mouth. It's a word of warning." Mr Zahawi said he believed the global financial turmoil would have the effect of reducing prices to what he deemed more reasonable levels. The price issue, however, was the one negative aspect of an event that he said had converted him into an a global ambassador for the emirate's cultural aspirations.

From his anecdotal discussions with some of the other 100 invited collectors - "I haven't done a poll" - he believed they too were equally enthusiastic. "Obviously, I think the festival can grow and go beyond just an association with France," he said. "I'd like it to be recognised as the recognised hub, as the arts festival for the region, the Middle East, a place where people flock to. "What they're doing at Saadiyat Island is just fantastic. It slightly stuns me that there's the Guggenheim and the Louvre but no British museum. As soon as I get back, I'll contact the National Portrait Gallery and say 'You need to be here'. It's a no-brainier. I don't know why we're not doing it."

Mrs Rubell said that, beyond creating a committee to buy art for a local collection and to support the artparis-AbuDhabi dealers, their other suggestion for the future was to pair the annual art fair with a non-commercial exhibition, sourced from the "fantastic" collection of the Abu Dhabi royal family, or from top museums around the world but with new material each season. * The National