The dawn of the Gulf Art Fair

When I came to Dubai, it really struck me that there are 600 art fairs around the world and not one in the Middle East,” says Benedict Floyd, Gulf Art Fair Finance Director. Floyd used to frequent art fairs in London, his favourite being ‘Art London’, founded by John Martin, a well-known figure in the art world who owns a couple of galleries in London where he has been a dealer for the last 14 years.

In January 2006, Floyd suggested a ‘Gulf Art Fair’ to Martin, who he recalls, “was ok with the idea but he didn’t jump on it. We both agreed that Dubai needed its own fair but it wasn’t until John started approaching other galleries that he really believed it could work - the response he got was quite overwhelming.”

New York’s Max Lang, London’s White Cube, Singapore’s Bodhi and Tokyo’s Mizuma are just a few of the world-famous art galleries that wanted to make their debut in Dubai. 41 of the world’s leading international art galleries from 26 cities will be jetting in for the eagerly-anticipated DIFC Gulf Art Fair to be held at the Madinat Arena in Dubai from the 8-10 March.

The fair was over-subscribed this year with many international galleries being turned away by the fair’s independent panel of judges. “And in some cases, galleries were canceling other established fairs they annually attend in order to pay to come to ours. So it’s not Dubai writing out cheques saying ‘we’re now going to create a new art market’ - it’s galleries as big as White Cube who are writing Dubai cheques so they can showcase their art here - so it’s organically growing,” says Floyd.

Seeing as this is the first international contemporary art fair ever to be held in the Middle East, the calibre of the galleries attending is impressive to say the least and yet in many people’s minds, it is only to be expected. Many key commentators in the international art world believe that in the next three years, Dubai will become the world’s most important art market outside of London and New York. “I couldn’t comment on the timing but I think it’s absolutely realistic that Dubai will become the Asian art capital.

There’s an art presence in Shanghai, there’s one in Singapore and there’s one in Mumbai but there’s no art capital in Asia as yet. And Dubai ticks a lot of boxes that would have to be ticked for it to become an art capital,” observes Floyd.

Indeed, providing both a tax-free environment and unparalleled access between Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, Dubai offers an ideal focal point for the booming Asian art market to become established. In fact, rumour has it that certain high-profile galleries from the US and Europe are looking at establishing satellites in the region over the next three to four years. “There is a core of international collectors keen to learn more about contemporary art from the Middle East and the Arab world. The Christie’s 2006 sale showed that buyers are not only in the region but are also coming from elsewhere in the world. Rather than going to them, I see no reason why the world cannot come to Dubai. The challenge lies in our collective ability to supply the demand,” says Martin who organised a roadshow before the Fair covering Europe, the UK, US and GCC countries in order to drum up interest.

However, Floyd makes clear that the DIFC Gulf Art Fair hopes to attract both international and Middle Eastern emerging and established collectors in equal measure. “It’s a balance and it’s very important to do both - especially in this region where Dubai is all about emerging markets. We were at the Culture Council the other day and they really want to ensure that emerging collectors don’t feel intimidated and feel that they can come to the Fair.”

And whereas Christie’s have been mildly criticised for not running enough ‘educational programmes’ for newcomers, the DIFC Gulf Art Fair has partnered with Sotheby’s Institute who will be hosting a three day workshop. Up to 40 people will be lecturing on the art that is actually exhibiting in the Madinat Arena and the workshop is very much geared towards the emerging collector. Artists, gallery owners and experts from around the world will address subjects such as art trends, investment, and strategies for new collections, while art experts will be on hand for exclusive guided tours of the Fair and art projects outside fair opening hours.

In addition, there is the three-day DIFC Global Art Forum bringing together a symposium of over forty regional and international artists, curators, dealers, museum directors, critics and academics to discuss several topics — most pertinently ‘The Next Ten Years of Contemporary Art in the Middle East’. This will focus on developing a framework for the encouragement and promotion of art within the UAE and the region, looking at overcoming issues such as public vs. private funding, control systems and freedom of expression.

The forum is being co-ordinated by Maria Finders, a leading figure in the art world, who became International Project Manager for Messe Basel in 2000, for whom she organises Art Basel Conversations at both Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach. As Martin tells me: “Conversations is a very significant event, so much so that the discussions are published every year in a book. So, in my opinion, it’s the most important thing about this whole fair and we will be recording the Global Art Forum because it is so special to so many people. I’d love it to be one of those events that’s meant to finish at six but goes on till dawn,” laughs Martin. Both those involved in the arts regionally as well as international curators will be speaking at the Forum, including the renowned Donna De Salvo, Chief Curator of The Whitney Museum in New York and Bob Monk, Director of the Gagosian Gallery in New York.

And Martin makes it clear that the Gulf Art Fair primarily hopes to foster relationships within the regional community: “The galleries come to meet new collectors, get them interested, build up relationships and promote their artists.”

And yet no one can deny that every gallery’s a business and needs to make money. “You know, it’s hard to give a pre-sale estimate but with an augural art fair of this size, you’d expect about US$5m to change hands. And then when the fairs grow bigger, you could be looking at US$15m.”

At the impressive speed at which Dubai is growing, those figures may not be so far out of reach.