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In previous years, even before the pandemic hit fair traffic, the halls of Abu Dhabi art fairs were sparsely populated, leaving many dealers wondering whether the market in the UAE capital had dried up. But for this year’s 14th edition, guests from the region and beyond thronged the show floor. “This is the best release in a while!” Dubai-based dealer Sunny Rahbar told Artnet News.
Diversity is the main theme of the fair, which returns to Manarat Al Saadiyat from 16-20 November, and appears to have become a bridge between gallerists and international collectors from nearby countries experiencing socio-economic and political upheaval.
Organized again by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, it was also the largest fair this year with 80 galleries from 28 countries and 33 new exhibitors from Colombia, France, Tunisia, Italy, Nigeria, South Korea, Italy, Morocco Gallery, Turkey and UAE.
The increased presence of Turkish galleries responds to the challenging market facing domestic galleries. Inflation in the Turkish lira climbed to 83% in October 2022, marking the 24-year highDirimart, a 20-year-old gallery based in Istanbul, which is exhibiting for the first time, said they did not have to adjust prices in the face of inflation, but acknowledged that some Turkish collectors were hesitant to buy. “The UAE is a great place to grow right now,” says director Levent Özmen. The gallery sold a work by renowned Turkish artist Fahrelnissa Zeid to a collector in Abu Dhabi for more than $100,000.
Installation view, Dirimart, Art Abu Dhabi 2022. Provided by Dirimart.
Ozman is not alone. Prices at the fair also varied, from the $3,000 top-price in the Emerge section to the top-of-the-line: Museum-quality paintings by Cuban master Wilfredo Lam sold for $5 million to $8 million at Galeria La Cometa. Andrés Córdoba of the gallery said that after selling a work by Fernando Botero last year for just over $1 million, they sold it again the following year. came back.
Despite the interest Lam generated, it remained unsold on the last day of the show. But Abu Dhabi Art Fair is known for taking its collectors, especially local buyers, at their ease.
“It’s always been a slower-paced fair,” Lawrie Shabibi Gallery co-founder William Lawrie told Artnet News. “It’s not a place where you know how you’re going to do the next day. A lot of the acquisitions happen on the last day of the fair, or even after the fair.” The gallery showcases Iranian-British artist Farhad Ahrarnia ) and sold several works for between $14,000 and $19,000 on the last day.
“It’s not a fair where people take their time; people buy by ear and try to get the next thing that will make them money,” echoed show director Dyala Nusseibeh.
Abu Dhabi is now a city of change, a city filled with top museums such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which celebrated its fifth birthday last week, and many more on the rise, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Zayer German National Museum, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, and the House of the Abrahamic Family of Interfaith.
Regular exposure to these important works of art in the new museum, as well as the presence of institutions, art galleries and exhibitions, stimulated a passion for art appreciation and collecting among the young local residents.
“them “I grew up with museums, art fairs and galleries, and now I’m eager to buy,” Nusseibeh said, emphasizing how boutique fairs ultimately benefit “the community and the wider public.” The royal family supports such a goal. “them Very supportive of galleries,” Nusseibeh added. “It was important for them to come and invest in Abu Dhabi. ”
Farah O’Suli, delacroix and me (2019). Courtesy of the artist and Dastan’s Basement.
For a fair that began in 2009, with a handful of blue-chip galleries like Gagosian and David Zwirner eager to sell to Abu Dhabi’s Nahyan royal family, Art Abu Dhabi has over the years taken on a distinctly regional character, Focus instead on artists and galleries from the Gulf and wider Middle East. Over the past two years, however, the fair has included a more diverse range of galleries and artists, and this year there has been an increase in multicultural displays, especially from North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey and Iran.
On the stand of Tehran-based Dastan’s Basement, a painting reappropriated from Eugène Delacroix’s famous description of the French Revolution, Liberty leads the people. Works by Iranian artist Farah Ossouli The gouache painting on cardboard is highly detailed and passionate, titled delacroix and me (2014), It seemed timely to showcase the ongoing protests in neighboring Iran, just an hour and a half flight from Dubai. This work is from the artist’s private collection and is not for sale.
“It’s really important to raise awareness of what’s happening through art — that art is a deeper reflection of society,” Dastan’s Basement founder Hormoz Hematian told Artnet News. “Ossouli was a pioneer in bringing Persian miniature painting to contemporary art. We felt this fair was a way to bring attention to her work.”
All of Hematian’s spaces in Tehran – Dastan’s basement, +2 and Parallel Circuit – remain closed due to ongoing protests.
Farid Rashahi, Chasing the Moon, ed. 3/7 (2010). HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Private Collection
“Iranian modern and contemporary art definitely has a big presence at this year’s fair,” Mohammed Afkhami, a Dubai-based Iranian collector and dealer, told Artnet News. Afkhami launched his virtual museum this week, but out of respect for what’s happening in Iran, he said he decided to delay the official launch until early 2023.
Further marking Iran’s presence is the exhibition “Farideh Lashai: Floating Above the Waves,” which showcases work from the late Iranian artist’s life. “These works relate to moving image and photography, and reflect in subtle ways what is happening to Iranian women’s voices,” Maneli Keykavoussi, Lashai’s daughter and director of the Lashai Foundation, told Artnet News. “The show tells a bloody history with great humor and love, through allegory, in a prophetic way and most of all, with beauty.”
The platform is also paying off financially, which is more important than ever now that domestic galleries remain closed. Hassan Saradipour, owner of Sarai Gallery, whose space in Tehran remains closed, is selling several works by Iranian artists for prices ranging from $2,000 to $40,000. While the gallery’s branch in Mahshahr in southern Iran remains open, his artists have a strong focus on international platforms, whether through its space in London’s Cromwell Square or at his forthcoming opening in downtown Los Angeles in April 2023. Planning in the gallery he opened. And his verdict on Abu Dhabi art? He said this year’s show was getting “high level”.
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