Writing Art History Since 2002

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Art Dubai is the Middle East’s leading international art fair, taking place from the 1st until the 5th of March 2023.

Over the past 16 years, Art Dubai has cemented its role in being a significant catalyst in the local, regional and international conversations on art from the Middle East and surrounding region (MENASA – Middle East, North Africa & South Asia) and putting art from these territories onto the global map.

As one of the world’s most international art fairs, Art Dubai has further expanded its commitment to cultivating a culture of discovery, offering exciting new global perspectives and broadening conversations about art beyond traditional western-led geographical scopes and narratives. The fair drives meaningful engagement with the rich cultural heritage and contemporary art practices of the region and extending to territories across Southeast and Central Asia, the African continent, and Latin America through presentations across its gallery sections.

As a talent incubator, Art Dubai has been the launch pad and development platform for the successful careers of artists, curators and art professionals. It continues to celebrate art excellence through its extended fair programming and initiatives. Art Dubai also works closely with its partners to produce innovative art programming and support the cultural community.

Art Dubai is part of a vibrant and dynamic local art ecology. It operates in close collaboration with institutions that are the heartbeat of artistic production in the UAE, such as the Jameel Arts Centre, Ishara Art Foundation, Sharjah Art Foundation, Maraya Art Centre, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, Tashkeel, NYUAD Art Gallery and Alserkal Avenue among others.

Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery (Luxembourg / Paris, France / Dubai,UAE)
Eniwaye Oluwaseyi, The source when it never runs dry, 2022. Oil paint on canvas, 150 x 150cm. Courtesy of the artist & Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery.

Representing: Noel W. Anderson, Kim Dacres, Shaunté Gates, Yashua Klos, YoYo Lander, Nate Lewis, John Madu and Eniwaye Oluwaseyi

Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery offers a diverse exhibition programme with solo exhibitions of gallery artists, group exhibitions, and special historical projects. The gallery is known for having introduced some of the most influential Afro-American artists to Luxembourg when they were still relatively unknown, for example, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Wangechi Mutu, Jeff Sonhouse and Terry Adkins.

In 2022 the gallery opened two new locations in Dubai (March) and Paris (October), reinforcing the solid international positioning of the gallery in the art world. These new perspectives of the gallery have been primarily motivated by the strive to offer artists the opportunity to be shown in three different locations with their specific opportunities. Dubai has developed a dynamic art ecosystem connecting a contemporary art scene to the global art world. Paris is among the most vibrant cities in the attractive art market of Europe, hosting very prominent institutions.

For more information, please visit Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery.

Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London, UK / Berlin, Germany / Nevlunghavn, Norway / Schloss Görne, Germany / Palm Beach, USA)
Kimathi Mafafo, Your Gaze Tells a Story IV, 2023. Machine and hand stitched embroidery on fabric, 108 x 142cm. Courtesy of the artist and Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.

Representing: Maha Ahmed, Nazir Tanbouli, Houda Terjuman, Bea Bonafini, Kimathi Mafafo, and Afifa Aleiby.

Established in 2012, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery has fast gained a reputation for exhibiting a diverse roster of innovative, international artists, both emerging and established, with strong theoretical and aesthetic bases. Since its inception, the gallery has embraced a collaborative, multicultural curatorial approach, maintaining a deep devotion to the artists it represents while fostering close relationships with museums and curators worldwide.

In April 2018, the gallery opened a space in Berlin, followed by the launch of a second location in London, occupying a two-storey building in the vibrant neighbourhood of London Bridge. In June 2020, the gallery opened its first annual summer space in a converted shrimp factory in the beautiful coastal town of Nevlunghavn, Norway. Following its success, a second summer space launched in 2021 in an 18th-century German castle forty minutes outside of Berlin at Schloss Görne. In October 2023, the gallery will expand its presence in the US by opening a permanent space in Palm Beach.

For more information, please visit Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.

Circle Art Gallery (Nairobi, Kenya)
Dickens Otieno, School Uniform (Looking Yonder 1), 2023. Shredded aluminium and galvanised steel mesh, 63.5 x 54.5 x 21cm. Courtesy of Circle Art Gallery.

Representing: Dickens Otieno (BAWABBA Section)

Circle was founded in 2012 to provide a highly professional consultancy service to individual and corporate collectors and art institutions and build audiences through curating ambitious pop-up exhibitions. In 2015, they opened a permanent gallery space in Nairobi, aiming to be the foremost exhibition space in East Africa. They intend to create a strong and sustainable art market for East African artists by supporting and promoting the most innovative and exciting artists currently practising in the region. They exhibit carefully curated, challenging and thought-provoking contemporary art and invite guest curators. Circle collaborates with a diverse group of contemporary artists across East Africa. We participate in international art fairs and engage with the art community by providing a venue for presentations from local and international artists, curators, art critics, collectors and academics.

For more information, please visit Circle Art Gallery.

Aicon Gallery (New York, USA)
Victor Ekpuk, She said, He said, 2022. Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Courtesy of Aicon Gallery.

Representing: Victor Ekpuk, Rachid Koraïchi, Saad Qureshi, Khadim Ali, Ghulam Mohammad, Rasheed Araeen, Bernardo Siciliano, and Mequitta Ahuja.

Aicon specialises in modern and contemporary non-Western art focusing on South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The New York gallery provides a vital platform for artists from these regions to show in the United States. Alongside in-depth, focused solo shows, the gallery presents a program of curated group exhibitions that are international in their scope and ambition.

In solo shows, Aicon Art has shown the work of established 20th-century artists such as M. F. Husain, F. N. Souza and S. H. Raza. The gallery has also presented solo shows of senior living artists Victor Ekpuk, Nataraj Sharma, Natvar Bhavsar, Rina Banerjee, Anjolie Ela Menon and Surendran Nair. From the younger generation, we have exhibited solo shows of Salman Toor, Mequitta Ahuja, Khadim Ali and Youdhisthir Maharjan. Group shows have included ‘Readymade: Contemporary Art from Bangladesh’ and ‘Between Line and Matter: Impulse of Minimalism in South Asia and the Middle East’. The gallery has collaborated with museums such as The Art Institute, Chicago; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; The Jewish Museum, New York; and Louvre Abu Dhabi.

For more information, please visit Aicon Gallery.

Comptoir Des Mines Galerie (Marrakech, Morocco)
Fatiha Zemmour, L’œuvre au noir, 2015. Charred wood and resin, 60 x 60cm. Courtesy of Comptoir des Mines Galerie.

Representing: Fatiha Zemmouri

The Comptoir des Mines Galerie is a contemporary art space born in 2016 in Marrakech. As part of the city’s architectural heritage, the Comptoir des Mines building was built in 1932. It has been completely renovated to accommodate its various apartment exhibitions, art projects, artist residencies and workshops. It has the particularity to be a hybrid space between a museum and an art gallery, allowing an extraordinary artistic experience to live.

The Comptoir des Mines Galerie fits in its way in a great dynamic of support of the talents in the service of the enrichment of the artistic production, whether intellectual or technical, and thus to realise exhibitions and creative projects of reference to mark a new history of art in Morocco.

For more information, please visit Comptoir des Mines Galerie.

Ruth Benzacar Galería De Arte (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Tomás Saraceno, Cumulonimbus nimbostratogenitus/M+M, 2021. Powder coated stainless steel, black monofilament fishing line, mirror panels, metal wire and steel rope (for hanging), 46 x 115 x 40cm. Courtesy of Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte.

Representing: Tomás Saraceno, Pablo Siquier, and Marina De Caro.

Founded in Buenos Aires in 1965, the gallery has been committed to contemporary art, paying particular attention to the work produced by Argentine artists. The gallery’s annual program includes six exhibitions by established and emerging artists.

For more information, please visit Ruth Benzacar Galería de Arte.

Efiɛ Gallery (Dubai, UAE)
El Anatsui, Prodigal Son, 2022. Aluminium and copper wire, 300 x 335cm. Courtesy of Efie Gallery.

Representing: El Anatsui, Abdoulaye Konaté, Aida Muluneh, Isshaq Ismail, Olaoluwa Slawn, and Naila Opiangah.

Efie Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Dubai specialising in representing and advancing artists of African origin, both from the African continent and its global diaspora. Since its inception in 2021, Efie Gallery has enabled and supported cross-cultural exchange between Africa, the Middle East and beyond. In addition to its wide-ranging roster of artists and exhibitions, the gallery operates a dynamic residency programme that facilitates collaborations with local artists, institutions and community members, supporting artists in the narrative and vision of their work. The gallery is founded by the Ghanaian family Valentina, Kwame and Kobi Mintah.

For more information, please visit Efie Gallery.

Selma Feriani Gallery (Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia / London, UK)
Fouad Bellamie, Untitled, 2009. Mixed media on canvas, 160 x 140cm. Courtesy of the artist and Selma Feriani Gallery.

Representing: M’barek Bouhchichi, Pascal Hachem, Nicène Kossentini, Amina Saoudi Aït Khay, Yann Lacroix, Zineb Sedira, Catalina Swinburn, Massinissa Selmani, and Nidhal Chamekh.

Selma Feriani Gallery was established in 2013 in Tunis and represents artists from the MENA region and around the globe. Over the past years, the gallery has set up critically and publicly successful exhibitions, installed public interventions internationally and participated at the 2015 and 2017 Venice Biennale. Selma Feriani Gallery aims to discover exceptional young artists and support their career development over the long term. We see our gallery as a space where artists and their bodies of work can be discovered, investigated, nurtured and then placed.

For more information, please visit Selma Feriani Gallery.

Madragoa (Lisbon, Portugal)
Buhlebezwe Siwani, Inkanyamba, 2021. Soap, resin and pigment on canvas, 200 x 140cm. Courtesy of the artist and Madragoa.

Representing: Buhlebezwe Siwani, Rodrigo Hernández, and Carrie Moyer.

Madragoa is a contemporary art gallery founded in 2016 in the homonymous neighbourhood of Lisbon’s historical centre. Since its beginning, the gallery has been an early supporter of a number of international young artists – Adrián Balseca, Rodrigo Hernández, Renato Leotta, Buhlebezwe Siwani, Joanna Piotrowska, and Yuli Yamagata – whose first productions and exhibition have been produced and promoted by the gallery and often presented for the first time in Portugal. Moreover, Madragoa launched the careers of young Portuguese artists such as Sara Chang Yan, Luís Lázaro Matos, Gonçalo Preto, and Jaime Welsh, giving them visibility on the international scene.

From its peripheral location in Europe, Madragoa’s project focuses on how to set a deep conversation with the city and its extraordinary potential, setting a dialogue between global artistic practices and local craftsmanship and ideas. The gallery always creates research and production experiences for its artists locally and promotes its program through participation in several international art fairs, gallery exchanges, and exhibition projects. Madragoa is currently recognised as one of the most innovative realities in the Portuguese art scene, while it has succeeded in obtaining international visibility throughout its years of activity.

For more information, please visit Madragoa.

AKKA Project (Dubai, UAE / Venice, Italy)
Filipe Branquinho, Untitled, 2022. Mixed media on paper, 120 x 80cm. Courtesy of the artist and AKKA Project.

Representing: Goncalo Mabunda and Filipe Branquinho.

AKKA Project is a commercial gallery and project space that represents and supports artists from the African continent and its diaspora, increasing opportunities for its artists to introduce their work to new geographies. With two galleries in Dubai and Venice, AKKA Project brings a dynamic new dimension to the art world. The gallery is deeply committed to exploring the African art scene and its kaleidoscopic diversity. At AKKA Project, they provide primarily emerging artists with the opportunity to share their work internationally and start conversations to transcend cultural boundaries.

They strive to promote contemporary African art by creating unforgettable exhibitions and events to inspire, transform and connect people. At AKKA Project, we offer a fresh perspective on the region’s historical, social, and cultural elements through the stories of contemporary African artists. Our mission is to inspire curiosity, creativity, and learning through contemporary African art by supporting African artists and making them accessible to international art communities.

For more information, please visit AKKA Project.

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