Abu Dhabi Art's Fifth Edition Presents the Broadest-Ever Spectrum of Modern, Contemporary Art and Design

Held at the UAE Pavilion and Manarat Al Saadiyat on Saadiyat Island, the fifth edition welcomes 50 galleries (a 91% return rate) from around the world, exhibiting modern, contemporary art and design and features its most diverse programme to date, addressing key ideas in the art and design sector.

A new section of Abu Dhabi Art titled Artists’ Waves, focuses on the discovery and re-discovery of artists through an exhibition that reflects the dynamism of new artistic movements and shifting perceptions. A discourse on the function of the conventional art fair platform, the artists’ works in this section is determined by curator instead of galleries, and the artists become the reason for the galleries inclusion in the fair.

Reflecting elements of the UAE’s tradition and heritage, Abu Dhabi Art houses the ADA architecture statement, a specially-constructed Design Souq by architect Shigeru Ban, while the debut of the Durub Al Tawaya performing arts programme extends beyond Saadiyat Island, with artistic interventions and performances in Abu Dhabi, highlighting the increasing maturity of the city’s artistic landscape.

“Abu Dhabi Art reflects for this year the traditions and heritage of the UAE as well as the capital increasing maturity as a cultural destination. This year’s edition helps us to realise our mission of making performing and visual arts more accessible to an increasingly broad audience. As we expand the Abu Dhabi Art platform and extend it to growing audiences, we underscore the vital role that arts and culture plays in the UAE,” said His Excellency Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, organisers of Abu Dhabi Art.

The new performing arts programme, Durub Al Tawaya curated by Tarek Abou El Fetouh, presents a cultural journey into the city of Abu Dhabi across four specific locations, creating a special route. Audiences are invited to follow paths on public buses turned into ‘contemporary art installations’ by artists from the UAE and abroad - to several outdoor, communal spaces transformed by performances and workshops. Its diversity of artists, poets, performers and arts organisations include Ho Tzu Nyen, Zeinab Al Hashimy,Wael Shawky, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Rayyane Tabet, Hiroaki Umeda, Selma & Sofiane Ouissi, 98 Weeks, Contemporary Image Collective, Afra Al Dahri, Salem Al Qasimi, Dima El Atab, Hamdan Al Shamsi, as well as Aita Ben Masaaoud, Nora Noman, Hadeyeh Badri, Hala Al-Ani, Riem Hassan, and the UAE Writers Union.

Art, Talks and Sensations: Dunes and Waves, under the artistic direction of Fabrice Bousteau, will ‘open up’ a larger and more permeated outdoor setting for live art, music and screenings, inspired by the UAE’s landscape and the lines of the Lord Norman Foster–designed UAE Pavilion. The scale of contemporary art is explored and experienced through Small is Beautiful, a curated, exhibition within Art, Talks and Sensations, of 42 modestly-sized pieces from leading artists selected from galleries participating in Abu Dhabi Art including Jean Michel Basquiat, Subodh Gupta, Jacques Villeglé, Dia Azzawi, Martin Creed, Yao Jui Chung and Erwin Wurm. At the other end of the spectrum, Wurm’s work will also join the likes of Hassan Sharif and Random International as part of the Beyond section for galleries which this year presents 11 monumental sculptures at Manarat Al Saadiyat.

Emirati art shines throughout Abu Dhabi Art with a large number of works exhibited this year as well as throughout the extensive programme and galleries including Mohammed Kazem, Hassan Sharif, Abdul Qader Al Rais, Dr. Najat Makki, Fatema Al Mazrouie, Abdullah Al Saadi, Ebtisam Abdul Aziz, Layla Juma, Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Sara Al Haddad, Abdul Qader Al Rais, Hussain Sharif and Sheikha Alyazia Nahyan Al Nahyan.