Five Essential Galleries in Dubai

The wood beams and leafy walkways of Gate Village, in the Dubai International Financial Centre, look incongruous amid the emirate’s trademark neon glitz. But housed there — and a quick cab ride away, in the industrial al-Quoz strip — is one of the world’s fastest-growing art scenes, especially popular with younger collectors looking to break away from staid powerhouses London and New York City. From March 21 to 24, the city will put on the biggest show of the year, Art Dubai, welcoming more than 20,000 visitors from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. “The fair has become a platform for culture in the United Arab Emirates,” says its director, Antonia Carver. Four days of shopping for art not enough for you? Then check out Dubai’s thriving array of galleries. With more than 40 to choose from, Dubai, says Carver, has “become the commercial art center for the region.” Here are five of the best.

CUADRO GALLERY
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This avant-garde space, occupying center court at Gate Village, opened in 2008 and is known for its politically charged photography exhibits and a devotion to mixed media.

In the wake of the Arab Spring, Cuadro has focused on mixing art and social conscience. Last year it featured the striking work of female Saudi Arabian photographer Manal al-Dowayan and hosted an exhibition by the Beirut artist Nadine Kanso in which Kanso’s color photography of present-day Lebanon was juxtaposed against found black-and-white images from earlier decades.

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Recent events in the region “have sparked more interest in Middle East art,” says Cuadro’s Bahraini director, Bashar al-Shroogi. “Before my eyes I can see the collector base here becoming more sophisticated. It’s changed the way the artists here produce.” At the same time, the line between politics and sellable art can be a fine one. “Some people don’t want that reminder in their face,” al-Shroogi says of politically charged art. “They don’t want a photo of a decaying building on the wall.”

OPERA GALLERY
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With branches long popular in global art hubs like London, Paris and New York City, this renowned gallery’s decision to open two premises in the emirate— one at Gate Village in 2008 and the other in the sprawling Dubai Mall in 2010 — attests to Dubai’s burgeoning status as a global cultural player.

The most international of Dubai’s galleries, Opera is currently showing work from France and Italy as well as the Persian Gulf. Its emphasis on kitsch — think vast, neon-hued and anime-inspired paintings — is unique to the city’s scene. Near the black-leather-upholstered sitting room downstairs, the wall is adorned with a giant deconstructed oil portrait of the designer Coco Chanel. Upstairs, a sculpture has been painted to look like the Qatari flag.

More than 300 artists from Asia, South America and Europe are represented at Opera Gallery. At its mall location, fast-thinking galleristas work to sell fine art to shoppers and tourists on the spot. “We’ve had Picassos, Renoirs, Monets, Dali, Impressionism from the 19th century,” says sales representative Sebastian Faure. “We brought these things to the Middle East. Most collectors here had never seen a Picasso in front of them before. Everyone else here focuses on Middle Eastern art, and that makes us different.”

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THE FARJAM COLLECTION
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A stone’s throw from Cuadro and Opera sits Farjam, where the exhibits are culled from the private collection of its benefactor, the Iranian philanthropist Farhad Farjam. The airy two-story space (watch your step on the glass staircase) has become a center for hands-on art education, luring students and patrons to its regular talks and demonstrations.

The gallery has distinguished itself with an emphasis not on sales but on learning and is considered by many local artists to be a great forum for expanding their collector base and building market share. Equally notable is the gallery’s emphasis on craft: an exhibition that closed in mid-March comprised 25 intricate silk carpets from Iran, with pieces hung between floors and stretched out on long wooden viewing tables.

“The money spent on art here is huge, but in terms of the population, the number of buyers is slim,” says artist Sacha Jafri, offering an overview of the local arts scene. “We have to teach the investment value and how it can enhance your life.” In that vein, a sign at Farjam’s recent exhibition read, in what could be a first for a gallery: PLEASE TOUCH THE CARPETS.

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ETEMADE
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The UAE space is one of two Etemad branches, with the other in Tehran. Dubai-size at a massive 930 sq m, the gallery is a local collector’s go-to for pieces from contemporary Iranian artists — the Gulf’s biggest sellers. One of the largest galleries in the Middle East, Etemad is “challenging the notion of what it means to be a young artist working in the region,” says spokeswoman Jareh Das.

New work from Iranians is at “the forefront of the market,” Das says, and Etemad showcases the country as often as possible. Artists love going there— its towering ceilings and the gallery’s carte blanche mandate makes it a virtual playground. “We have vast space, and we give them the freedom to experiment,” she says.

An exhibit that closed earlier in March featured large-scale foam mattresses hanging from the ceiling. During Art Dubai, renowned Iranian architect and artist Kamran Diba will present a series of abstract newspaper images, using the pieces to “comment on the idea that we’re bombarded by news, and he’s trying to bring the visual out of the text.”

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LAWRIE SHABIBI
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The first from business partners William Lawrie and Asmaa al-Shabibi, this gallery was one of the most anticipated of last year’s numerous openings. The cavernous 280-sq-m space is located in the newly rejuvenated industrial al-Quoz district near Mall of the Emirates.

Lawrie Shabibi is the brainchild of local art royalty. Lawrie is the former director of contemporary Middle Eastern art at Christie’s, which now holds auctions in the emirate, and al-Shabibi the former managing director of Art Dubai. The gallery’s splashy opening-night party attracted a Who’s Who of Dubai’s glitterati and helped push art events onto the city’s social scene. But it lives up to the hype. Its minimalist exhibits play on the physical space, often mirroring its sleek industrial chrome, white and concrete interior.

Lawrie Shabibi has become a champion of the burgeoning North African scene. A recent exhibition from Algerian artist Driss Ouadahi featured paintings of gridded skyscrapers and sterile cityscapes; during Art Dubai, Lawrie Shabibi hosts a monochromatic multimedia sculpture series from the Tunisian-born artist Nadia Kaabi-Linke.

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