A heaving crowd of well-heeled fairgoers filled the halls of the luxury Madinat Jumeirah hotel for the first preview day of Art Dubai on Tuesday (until 13 March). The 15th edition of the fair is also its first going back to “business as usual” since 2019.
“This edition is one of the most vibrant I have witnessed,” says the dealer Leila Heller, who has been coming to Art Dubai since its inception. Her eponymous gallery is showing in the contemporary and Modern sections.
Art Dubai has returned to the five-star Madinat Jumeirah resort this year Photo: Cedric Ribeiro/Getty Images for Art Dubai
Art Dubai, which is partly supported by the state, is not known as a particularly sales-heavy fair, with the focus more skewed towards building networks, promoting underrepresented galleries (particularly from the Global South) and delivering educational programmes.
The institutional presence is particularly strong this year, with 25 invited museums and more than 100 in attendance. Art Dubai’’s support can also be seen in the new pricing system for booths—one of the remnants of the…
