The leading global platform for art and artists from the Middle East and Global South, Art Dubai returns for its 15th edition to Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai from 11-13 March 2022 with previews on the 9 and 10 of March.

Featuring over 100 Contemporary and Modern galleries from more than 40 countries across four main gallery sections, including Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba and a new section, Art Dubai Digital, Art Dubai 2022 includes more than 30 first-time participants, and over 50% of the gallery programme drawn from the Global South, reaffirming the fair’s position as the leading marketplace and meeting point for art and artists from this region.

“That so much of the programme is drawn from the Global South highlights the increased interest in and appetite for collecting non-Western art, the strengthening of the gallery scene beyond the traditional centres of the art world, and the role Art Dubai plays as a platform for regions that are under-represented in international collections,” said Art Dubai’s Artistic Director Pablo del Val.

This year’s A.R.M. Holding Children’s Programme features artist-led workshops for children aged 5-17 years. With a focus on sustainability, the programme will be led by Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru, who will work with participants to retrieve and repurpose everyday materials from their homes, challenging children to alter their perspective and re-examine how they see everyday objects and their wider surroundings. The programme will first take place at Art Dubai before expanding to 80 schools - reaching more than 5,000 children across Dubai.

New for 2022 is the debut of Art Dubai Digital, an innovative new digital art and NFT section that provides a comprehensive, 360-degree introduction to this fast-developing landscape, examining the context out of which NFTs, cryptocurrency, video art and virtual reality (VR) have grown since the rise of digital art in the 1980s.

“This year’s programme places particular emphasis on where the physical and digital realms intersect, and we are particularly pleased to present Art Dubai Digital to our visitors, which will be an important bridge between the rapidly-developing crypto-sphere and the international art market,” said del Val.

Art Dubai Week takes place during the final month of Dubai Expo 2020 with a range of solo and group exhibitions taking place across the city, with highlights including Jitish Kallat: Order of Magnitude at Ishara Foundation; A Slightly Curving Place, curated by Nina Ghouse, at Concrete, Alserkal Avenue; two important solo shows: Taus Makhacheva: A Space of Celebration and Fahd Burki: Daydreams at Jameel Arts Centre.

Art Dubai is held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding. The lead partner of the fair is Swiss Wealth Management Group Julius Baer. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair’s strategic partner. Bybit is the lead partner of Art Dubai Digital.

“Art Dubai is a truly global art fair, and this is reflected in both the quality and geographic spread of the galleries participating this year.”