It’s set to take place in November…

Following a strategic break from live festivals in 2020 (though a virtual one still took place), Abu Dhabi Art came back strong in 2021 with a post peak pandemic celebration of regional and international artistic talent.

And the fair, held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, looks set to march into frame for the 2022 edition, bigger, bolder, with even more aesthetic vigour than ever before.

Events centre around creative hub, Manarat Al Saadiyat between November 16 and 20, 2022.

Great exhibitions

Exhibitors will be able to show work in three separate sectors.

Modern & Contemporary — is of course open to modern and contemporary galleries (that have been operating for a minimum of seven years).

Special Projects — is the bracket that will include galleries representing solo or duo artist collections (these must have been operating for at least three years).

Focus — galleries allocated to this sector will participate with artists chosen by a guest curator.

More details on the sectors, featured galleries and artists will be on the way soon. As with previous years there will be a full itinerary of engaing Abu Dhabi Art projets taking place across the emirate, during the festival window and in the lead up as part of the visual campaign.

Voices

Talking about the announcement, Dyala Nusseibeh, Director, Abu Dhabi Art, said: “We are delighted to invite galleries to apply for our 14th edition this year.”

“The Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi has signaled a strong commitment to bolstering the growth of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) in the region and Abu Dhabi Art plays a key role for the visual arts in this endeavor through its engagement with galleries, artists, curators, exhibition organisers and other arts professionals at the fair.”

“A cornerstone of the arts and culture ecosystem in the city, Abu Dhabi Art strives to be a catalyst in its support for artists and for cultural producers of knowledge more widely. In this vein, for our Visual Campaign, we’ve selected leading Emirati artist, Farah Al Qasimi to work with.”

Farah Al Qasimi, recently featured in the New York Times, has recently been exhibiting at Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Foundation — with a photograph and video collection titled, Farah Al Qasimi: General Behaviour.

Talking about her appointment and ambions, Al Qasimi said: “Abu Dhabi is my home, and Abu Dhabi Art was one of the first major art events I attended when I moved back home after college, so it is great to be chosen for this year’s visual campaign. A lot of my work is about and for the Emirates, so I’m happy to be able to share these images in this way.”

“The images for the campaign are all from very different projects. I’d say that they reflect the range of different approaches in my practice, from observing the real world to building still lives and collages in-studio. There is also a relationship to performance and gesture,” she added.

Stay tuned to What’s On for further announcements.

Images: Abu Dhabi Art