Art Dubai is held under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Dubai.

Art Dubai, the leading international art fair in the Middle East and South Asia, offers the opportunity to engage with the most extensive showcase of more than 500 artists from the UAE, the region and the world. Art Dubai is held in partnership with The Abraaj Group and is sponsored by Julius Baer and Emaar.

Announced at a press conference today, the ninth edition of Art Dubai takes place March 18-21, 2015, at its home, Madinat Jumeirah, and is the most global fair to date with 92 participating galleries from 40 countries.

Art Dubai, alongside Design Days Dubai, is an anchor event within Art Week, the week-long celebration of arts and culture which begins Art Season, announced Lubna Ahmed Mohamed Alshamsi of Dubai Culture. Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the strategic partner of Art Dubai and supports the fair's year-round education programme.

Alongside the gallery halls, Art Dubai features an extensive not-for profit programme, including dynamic commissioned site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects; an exhibition by winners of The Abraaj Group Art Prize; the critically-acclaimed, five-day conference Global Art Forum; a live radio station; film and video screenings; The Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program for children and teenagers; plus an engaging programme of curator-led tours, book launches, talks and collateral events.

“Over the past nine years, Art Dubai has evolved into an extraordinarily dynamic art fair, with a particular emphasis on diversity and quality,” said Antonia Carver, Fair Director, Art Dubai. “The fair echoes the expansion of the arts infrastructure in the UAE and the region. Our roots are firmly grounded in the UAE arts scene and we believe this year's fair reflects Dubai’s identity as a major cultural city, alongside its role as a hub for trade, finance and transport. Art Dubai’s growth has been organic and supported by a highly motivated audience of artists, curators, gallerists, patrons and enthusiasts.”

Art Dubai’s 2015 programmes include:

Art Dubai Contemporary

Affirming Art Dubai’s reputation as the most global of art fairs, the Contemporary halls include 72 galleries, selected via a stringent independent committee process. In 2015, several galleries have opted to present ambitious solo and two-person shows; audiences will discover the work of more than 500 artists, from an extraordinarily diverse roster of galleries that includes the world’s most prominent alongside fresh, upcoming artspaces.

Art Dubai Modern

Launched last year, Art Dubai Modern, exclusively partnered with Mashreq Private Banking, features artists who proved influential in the twentieth century, particularly through the vibrant modern period of the 1940s to 1980s. Each gallery presents a solo or two-person show, with work by masters from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Art Dubai Modern’s advisory committee includes Savita Apte, Catherine David, Kristine Khouri, Nada Shabout and Bisi Silva.

Marker

In 2015, Marker focuses on Latin America. The programme, curated by Luiza Teixeira de Freitas, looks at the intersections between Latin America and the Arab world. Marker takes a dynamic, multidisciplinary approach this year and includes: a group show featuring 35 artists from across Latin America; a publishing section devoted to artists books, co-presented by Tijuana, Sao Paulo, and The State, UAE; performance curated by and featuring Colombian artist Maria Jose Arjona; a film programme curated by Videobrasil; and sound art projects by Maria Quiroga and Marina Buendia.

Art Dubai Projects

Art Dubai Projects is a not-for-profit programme that includes residencies and commissions, curated in 2015 by Lara Khaldi, plus live radio and film. A.i.R (Artists-in-Residence) Dubai, a partnership between Art Dubai, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Taskeel, sees six artists–Rheim Alkadhi, Mehraneh Atashi, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Jessica Mein, Hind Mezaina and Sharmeen Syed–produce new projects through a three month residency.

Art Dubai Commissions is a new programme devoted to mid-career artists: Jumana Emil Abboud, Maria Thereza Alvez, Umashankar and the Earchaeologists, Mehreen Murtaza and Fari Bradley & Chris Weaver. In 2015, Campus Art Dubai’s Core class take on producing Art Dubai Radio, with a week-long programme of sound, music and talks, live at the fair.

The Abraaj Group Art Prize

The Abraaj Group Art Prize exhibition at Art Dubai features new work by the 2015 winner, Yto Barrada, as well as previous works by three shortlisted artists—Sarnath Banerjee, Setareh Shahbazi and Mounira Al Solh—curated by Guest Curator Omar Kholeif. The Abraaj Group Art Prize is the only prize in the Middle East and South Asia that awards artists on the basis of submitted project proposals.

Global Art Forum

Titled ‘Download Update?’, the Global Art Forum 2015 takes on the theme of technologies, and their impact on the world of art, culture and beyond. The Forum debates how technologies have transformed not only the way we work, but how we think, interact, learn and create. The talks programme, the largest such annual gathering in the Middle East / Asia, is presented by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and supported by Dubai Design District (d3).

Featuring a diverse line-up of more than 50 participants including artists, curators, musicians, strategists, technologists and writers, the talks are co-directed by Turi Munthe and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, with Shumon Basar as Director-at-Large. The five days of live talks begin in Kuwait–supported by the Tamdeen Group, March 14-15–where the programme includes a twoday workshop on digitizing archives, before continuing at Art Dubai, March 18-20, where a day is devoted to the youth movement 89plus.

Education

Art Dubai Education features programmes for children through to arts professionals. The Sheikha Manal Little Artist Program is an artist-led set of workshops and tours for children and teenagers. Art Dubai also works with colleges on specialist tours at the fair. In 2015, Forum Fellows, an intensive series of workshops led by Tirdad Zolghadr, is supported by Julius Baer and focuses on an exceptional group of upcoming writers from the region. Campus Art Dubai is a year-round art school for artists, curators and writers featuring Core and Community classes, in partnership with Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and supported by Dubai Design District (d3).