On This Land opened at Alserkal Avenue’s Concrete. Born as a triangulated response, the exhibition was spirited to life in just three weeks, building on years of research and informed dialogue on Palestine art and culture by The Palestinian Museum and the Barjeel Art Foundation, with the curatorial support of Alserkal Arts Foundation. Opening remarks were heard from Vilma Jurkute, Executive Director of Alserkal Initiatives (Alserkal Avenue, Alserkal Arts Foundation, Alserkal Advisory), Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, Founder Barjeel Art Foundation, and Amer Al-Shomali, The Palestinian Museum’s Director General, who was absent from the opening but sent a recorded message.

Opening remarks by Vilma Jurkute, Executive Director of Alserkal Initiatives. On the right: Abdelmonem bin Eisa Alserkal, Founder of Alserkal Initiatives / Credit: Seeing Things

The exhibition creates a necessary space for collective re-learning, at a time when the Palestinian Museum’s own doors are closed. It features more than 100 artworks, including a selection from the museum’s digital archive, as well as sculptures and paintings by Palestinian artists and by artists representing Palestine from the Barjeel Art Foundation’s collection.

On This Land / Credit: Seeing Things

On This Land, installation view / Credit: Seeing Things

On This Land, installation view / Credit: Seeing Things

The exhibition’s cover artwork by Sliman Mansour depicts a woman wearing a traditional Palestinian dress standing in front of an olive tree, a symbol of Palestine. A central work on the front-facing wall, Ladies of Gaza, by Layan Shawabkeh, was the result of one year of research studying the past and future of the women of Gaza. The artist Jawad Malhi was present on the night, as well as Nahil Bishara’s granddaughter who spoke about Bishara’s artwork The Watermelon Farmer painted in 1956, capturing the hardships of the Palestinian farmers at the time. Contemporary Palestinian artists Taysir Batniji and Mona Hatoum were represented through thought-provoking works on paper and sculpture, respectively.

On This Land / Credit: Seeing Things

The presence of Palestine was palpable around Concrete; the ceiling-high sheets holding the snapshot photography from Palestinian’s digital archive in dialogue with the central cube heavy with art historical significance, paired with the sage fragrance that perfumed the space, and the Rummaniyeh from Hayas Kitchen. The photographs provide a glimpse into the everyday life of Palestinians: three fishermen drinking tea and preparing their fishing nets, a family swimming and fishing in the Gaza port, the first Bedouin festival, children going to the beach in the trunk of a car, amongst others.

On This Land, Abdelmonem bin Eisa Alserkal, Founder of Alserkal Initiatives / Credit: Seeing Things

On This Land / Credit: Seeing Things

Tours of the exhibition will take place at 3.30 pm every day. A discussion between writer Rima Fadda and art researcher Faris Shomali, a former digitisation manager at the Palestinian Museum Digital Archive project, will take place on 26 November from 4 pm to 5.30 pm.

Exhibition opening times:

• 20-26 November
• 10AM-Midnight
• Daily tours at 3.30 pm

Additional tours:

• 23 November, 7 pm with Curator of Barjeel Art Foundation, Suheyla Takesh
• 25 November, 7 pm with Faris Shomali

Hazem Harb broke his hiatus of more than a decade of working with charcoal on paper, with a live performance, creating an expansive 10m artwork. The return is an attempt to express the artist’s profound sense of loss; the black carbon charcoal echoing the dust that now settles upon his home, Gaza. Depicting eight line-drawn faces, the artwork marked not only a return to the medium but to the human form, a means to invoke the corporal essence etched in Harb’s mind. The canvas piece will remain on display alongside documentation of the intervention, until 26 November.

Hazem Harb’s live performance / Courtesy of Alserkal Avenue

The Palestinian Museum digital archive can be found via palmuseum.org/en, and more information about the Barjeel Art Foundation can be found at barjeelartfoundation.org, and Alserkal Arts Foundation is available on alserkal.online/foundation. On This Land was made possible with support from Crown Fine Arts.

Alserkal Art Week takes place from 20 until 26 November.

Full programme details are available via alserkal.online

Rina Banerjee challenges current nativist political leanings by proposing a multi-faceted nature of identity; not based exclusively on a person’s culture of origin or gender, but instead on self-identity. These inclusive and freeing conceptions of the “self” manifest themselves throughout Banerjee’s ever-evolving work, in fragmented figures, riotous use of colour, and symbolic materials. Paired with her thought-provoking and poetic titles, Banerjee in her work relentlessly query contemporary modes of artistic production and societal engagement.

Salima Hashmi says about her practice, “As we seek to document our turbulent times, the fragile and the vulnerable weigh upon the inner eye. Remembered images of night and day spread out; carpets and tapestries, mapping our journeys.”

An artist with an international sensibility, Chittrovanu Mazumdar draws from an ever-shifting sea of various sources. Dramatic plays of light and colour values are visual hallmarks of his sophisticated oeuvre. Mazumdar’s imagery emerges out of daily discoveries: a word, a glance, the heartrending/blood-chilling phrase, a fleeting mise en scène – the rise and crest of body parts imprisoned in tight freeze-frame: both source and association are intensely private and sensual. In his paintings, we see contours of anatomy slipping into/emerging from non-representative fields of colour.

Wardha Shabbir is rendering countless dots that come together as units to form an idea(s) on the surface. The “Nuqta/Dot” is symbolizing infinity and life. Akin to miniature paintings for manuscript illustration, she has delicately picked organic symbols of earth, water and sky to paint contemporary utopian pathways or Siraat, signifying a course of clarity between a clutter of contradictory values and states of being.

Madhusudhanan shows in his works his enduring fascination with early Indian cinema as a historical medium, replicating film stills and figures from the silent era. Madhusudhanan insists on making a series of images rather than the singular in imitation of the cinematic language. This painting, which comes from memories of the myth of the historical flood closely parallels the story of creation: a cycle of creation, un-creation, and re-creation, in which the Ark plays a pivotal role. The triptych fuses the narrative of the biblical flood in connection to migrants in search of a home.

Ghulam Mohammed’s practice places itself at the intersection of the range and limitations of language, both as a visual, formal construct as well as a conveyor of meaning. The tension between the capacities of language, to both impart form, as well as interpretation. It is this interplay between appearance and potential, orientation and performance, the primary motive force behind the process of the practice as well as the work it produces.

Art Dubai closed its 15th edition on Sunday 13 March 2022, with strong sales reported across all four sections of the fair: Modern, Contemporary, Bawwaba and Art Dubai Digital. Marking a full-scale return at Madinat Jumeirah, Art Dubai’s 2022 edition was the fair’s largest to date, with a record attendance of more than 30,000 visitors across five days. The fair’s success reinforces the growing importance of Dubai as an international hub for art and culture and innovation and technology and Art Dubai as the marketplace for art and artists from the Global South.

ANNA LAUDEL, Art Dubai 2022. Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022 featured more than 120 presentations by 104 galleries and platforms from 44 countries. Newly commissioned works complemented the gallery programme from leading international artists and an oversubscribed, innovative talks programme, bringing together some of the world’s brightest minds through the 15th edition of Global Art Forum and the new Bybit Talks Series. Art Dubai 2022 also featured the debut edition of Art Dubai Digital, a new physical gallery section presenting a curated selection of 17 of the most cutting-edge digital platforms internationally. This was their first experience exhibiting in a traditional fair context for many platforms with in-person and online sales.

Art Dubai 2022. Art Dubai Digital, Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. Art Dubai Digital, Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. Art Dubai Digital, Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. Art Dubai Digital, Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai’s Artistic Director Pablo del Val commented: “This was, without doubt, one of the most successful editions of Art Dubai, in terms of both visitors and sales reported, fully reflecting Dubai’s position as an engine of global growth and a city no longer of the future, but of the here and now. The response from audiences and collectors to the debut edition of Art Dubai Digital has been truly incredible. Art Dubai prides itself on being a fair of innovation and forward-thinking, and there was a real freshness and energy to the 2022 edition across the whole programme.”

Kristin Hjellegjerde, Founder, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery: “We had a very successful week, there was a lot of positive energy, and we sold multiple works to both new and returning clients. Dubai is a city in transition, and there is undoubtedly a growing collector scene here, at all levels.”

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Victoria Cooke, Director, Gallery 1957: “This is our third time at Art Dubai and our most successful edition yet – it’s great to be back. On the opening day we sold works to African-American, South Asian, and regional collectors. Dubai is a truly international place, and it’s been an incredibly positive experience.”

Priyanka Raja, Founder, Experimenter: “We had a very successful week, selling almost all the works we brought, mostly to institutions. It’s been one of the strongest editions in Art Dubai’s history, in terms of the quality of the galleries and the art they are showing, and in the conversations we have had. We have met people here from all over the world, made sales to new people and it has been an incredibly fruitful week for us. There has been a constant buzz, on all days of the fair, and as well as the sales we make, Art Dubai is a facilitator or longer-term conversations and feels like a moment of celebration for our artists.”

Asmaa Al-Shabibi, Founder, Lawrie Shabibi Gallery: “We had a good fair this year, with strong sales across our booth and gallery – overall the energy, interest and excitement was back to levels not seen for many years even before the pandemic.”

Joe Kennedy, Founder, Institut.co: “We were thrilled to be invited to participate in Art Dubai’s inaugural Digital section which brought together an impeccably curated cross-section of platforms, galleries and DAOs from this innovative and rapidly expanding space. It was a great opportunity for Institut to meet members of our community IRL and educate and engage with a truly global audience, and we had a very successful week.”

Art Dubai 2022. Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. Installation view / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Henry Brand, Fingerprints DAO: “We chose to do a hybrid booth including both online and IRL elements and we sold very well, with lots of NFTs being minted in person here at the booth – by collectors of all ages, and a really wide demographic. It’s our first time participating in an art fair and we chose a particularly challenging presentation that expands the use of the blockchain as a medium for artists.”

Dima Abdul Kader, Emergeast: “Art Dubai has been absolutely fantastic for us – the feedback and the traffic has been hugely positive and inspiring. Sales have been great and we almost sold out the booth. This feels like a unique moment in time, and in 12 months it will be a different landscape.”

Thomas Brambilla, Founder, Thomas Brambilla: “It was our first time here at Art Dubai and we sold extremely well. It was a beautiful week and we really enjoyed it, in what is a completely new part of the world for us, and one where we plan to do more. Dubai is becoming ever more important, it’s a gateway to the region, and we met a lot of new, serious collectors this week.”

Matteo Consonni, Founder, Madragoa: “This is our first experience of Art Dubai and it has been an extremely positive one. We are a young European gallery and this week we feel like we have been in the centre of the melting pot that is Dubai. Sales were consistent across the week and we were pleased to sell out the booth.”

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Art Dubai 2022. General Fair Imagery / Photo by Cedric Ribeiro, Getty Images for Art Dubai

Founded in 2007, Art Dubai is the premier platform to see and buy modern and contemporary art from the Global South. Featuring Contemporary, Modern and Digital gallery sections, annual artist commissions and year-round collector and education programmes, Art Dubai champions art and artists from across the Global South, providing a relevant and increasingly important alternative to mainstream, largely Western-led narratives.

Art Dubai is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Art Dubai is held in partnership with ARM Holding. The lead partner of the fair is Swiss Wealth Management Group Julius Baer. The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is the fair’s strategic partner. Bybit is the lead partner of Art Dubai Digital.