2. LOCAL ARTISTS MUST BE PRESENT
It is to be underlined how precise governmental policies (with nominated Ministries for the promotion of Saudization, Qatarization, Emiratization, and so forth) ask for inclusiveness of local artists within museum collections and exhibitions. Nevertheless, what does ‘inclusiveness’ mean in the curatorial field? It would mean that curators have to include regional art as per mandatory sets of guidelines. On the one hand, inclusiveness offers a revised approach to history. On the other hand, when inclusiveness is forced, it can be at risk of ‘tokenism’, namely the phenomenon because of which an increasing number of companies are currently including gender quotas against discrimination. In museums, this would translate as: "I – the curator - have to include you – artist – although your work has been shortlisted not because of its quality but because of your identity."
A case in point of local inclusiveness is Art Dubai, the leading art fair that takes place every March in the lavish framework of the hotel Madinat Jumeirah (Art Dubai was already mentioned in the previous episode "Today is Tomorrow's Yesterday" regarding their Global Art Forum platform).
Founded in 2007, Art Dubai has undoubtedly become the most prominent platform for arts from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Originally called the Gulf Art Fair, it was founded by gallerist John Martin and former financier Benedict Floyd, and it was part of the Art Dubai Group FZ LLC, which is the owner of the Dubai International Finance Center. Each year, Art Dubai features a diverse lineup of over 90 galleries from more than 40 different countries, from household names to emerging art spaces. Unsurprisingly, Art Dubai began as a mix of western expertise coming from the most successful art fairs across Europe and the US (Art Basel, both in Switzerland and Miami, Frieze, and so forth). Needless to say that the omnipresent Hans Ulrich Obrist was the must be present international five-star-rated curator guest for several editions.
Directed for six years by the UK-born Antonia Carver, a former journalist based in Dubai and currently the director of Jameel Arts Centre, in 2016 Art Dubai passed the torch to a 'more local' director of Lebanese origin: Myrna Ayad, a freelance journalist for Canvas Art Magazine. However, Ayad stepped down in July 2018 saying to The Art Newspaper that her decision to leave was “personal” and she was planning to launch her own art consultancy company.
A step forward sees Art Dubai having evolved with a particular eye on the ‘local’ landscape. A good amount of programs have been established with the attempt to tailor an art fair that could mirror the homegrown art scene. They include UAE NOW, an exhibition curated by Emirati independent curator Munira Al Sayegh focusing on local artist-run and grassroot platforms contributing to the UAE’s cultural ecosystem. A new entry among the programs to encourage the regional creativity is Ithra Art Prize. Launched in 2017 by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Saudi Arabia, Ithra Art Prize is an art contest open exclusively to Saudi and Saudi-based contemporary artists. The winning artist receives $100,000 to create a new commission, which is first shown at Art Dubai before entering Ithra’s permanent art collection. Such a generous prize - let's say against £25,000 given to the established UK-based artist awarded the Turner Prize - would question any real recognition in terms of quality, or even regarding any whatsoever future benefits to the young Saudi artist.
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| Art Dubai Contemporary 2017_Courtesy of Photo Solutions |
Nevertheless, besides the debatable discrepancies highlighted above, it must be said that any exhibitions being curated in the Middle East adopting a clever and meaningful approach towards the inclusiveness of the homegrown can serve successfully to correct the hegemonic cultural one-way street methodology we are used to adopting when we look at art history as a linear, static narrative. Exhibitions, in the end, are all about stories and lives. This way of seeing the past with fresh eyes allows curators to seek those errors and mistakes throughout art history and correct them while offering a more granular version of the past.
