Last year it was the first international art event to be canceled

From the 29th of March to the 3rd of April, the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) hosted 50 international exhibitors, with satisfactory economics results. In the first three days, opened only upon invitation, the kermesse welcomed around 18,000 visitors. These results were partly due by the progress of the vaccination campaign in the UAE, where more than half of the population was immunized. A rate comparable to Israel one.
Therefore the art sales were satisfactory: the French art gallery Perrotin sold a work by JR (author of the installation on the facade of the Florentine Palazzo Strozzi) for $ 65,000, while the Moroccan Comptoir des Mines, at its first participation, sold a work by Fatiha Zemmouri for $ 32,000.






Interesting results also for the local Custot Gallery: collectors rewarded it by acquiring two artworks by the British Ian Davenport, one by Fabienne Verdier ($ 150,000) and two by Sophia Vari.

It is curious to note how the event, in recent years, has devoted increasing attention to African art and the diaspora, following the growing interest of the public. The Parisian Galerie Templon, for example, sold, among others, a work by the Senegalese Omar Ba, while Gallery 1957, based in Accra and London, transacted 4 works by the Ivorian Joana Choumali. Addis Fine Art, Addis Ababa and London, featured works by Ethiopian Tizta Berhanu between £ 4,000 and £ 6,000.
Looking to the results of the Italian operators, only three in this 14th edition, Galleria Continua presented artworks by Loris Cecchini. The other art galleries who participated were Giorgio Persano and Akka Project.

It’s interesting that some local cultural institutions bought many artworks. For example Art Jameel, which operates in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The innovative business model adopted by the organization has contributed to support the activity of the exhibitors. The gallery owners did not pay for the stand in advance, but, in case of sales, a percentage went to Art Dubai up to coverage the costs related to the space used.
Furthermore, a sort of “remote” participation was also organized for operators blocked in their countries of origin by the health regulations in force. A sort of "ghost booth" option to use the term invented by Art Basel Hong Kong: the remote connections and the staff in force during the fair were provided by the organizers themselves.

Compared to the past, the spin-off events have been reformulated to avoid crowd. Thus was born the idea of ​​the "Sculpture Park": putting the large-format installations on the sides of the two external corridors that surround the iconic DIFC gate. Instead for the "Video Art Program" ten screens were inserted in the avenue leading to the entrance of the DIFC, which screened films by more than twenty international artists.
It was also interesting the retrospective of vintage photographs to celebrate the nation's fiftieth anniversary.
The Ithra Art Prize took place as usual: Fahad bin Naif triumped in this third edition with the installation "Rakhm".

Turning to the highlights of the 2021 edition, there was no shortage of extremely interesting artists.
For example, the Iraqi Afifa Aleiby or Alia Ali, born in 1985, a Yemeni, Bosnian and American multimedia artist.





Also worth noting were Alymamah Rashed and Mona Saudi, a Palestinian Jordanian sculptor and well-known activist.

So Dubai is reconfirmed as an interesting global market place for art, despite the temporary crisis that had hit the region months ago.
My hope is that in the 15th edition the Italian art galleries participation will be greater.