Dubai art week: Yes we can!

Upon announcing to people that I would be running off to this distant land, I recieved a mixed array of reactions, from very enthusiastic to completely against. For those who were against this move, among the maelstrom of criticisms that I received, one of them was the fact that there is simply no culture here, and that I would just fester away, ignorant, in the heat of the Arabian desert. Oh ye (oh y'all?) of little faith. There is a growing art and culture scene here both on a temporary basis in the form of art and design fairs, as well as permanent collection of galleries concentrated in two main parts of the city. 

For someone seeking employment in the vague art/ culture world, arriving in late February was perfect (unplanned) timing. Before leaving, I had been so consumed by getting rid of possessions I would no longer need here, and doing one last galavant around Andalusia with a dear friend (as one does), I barely had any time to devote to research upcoming events or galleries that could save me from what everyone described as a cultural dustbowl. As it turns out, every March, Dubai Culture puts on a series of fairs and events collectively known as Art Week that both promote local or regional artists and endeavor to bring more well-established players of the art scene in Europe or New York to Dubai. Think of it as an attempt to become a kind of cross-roads for contemporary Art: bring the world to Dubai, and show Dubai to the world.The main attractions of this week include Design Days, Art Dubai, and the Sikka Festival in the historic Al Fahidi district (you remember from last week, don't you?)--three large-scale art fairs, each with its own focus but all nonetheless committed to strengthening the cultural fabric of this city. While each of these fairs goes on for several days, there are a variety of other singular events, auctions, openings, talks, screenings, etc., that happen all throughout the city. 

During the first few days, everything au programme seemed feasible in terms of scheduling, but there was literally so much going on last week that I was forced to pick a select number of events and stick to those. Here is a collage of some of my favorite sightings and each event:

Arts Night at Gate Village--DIFC

Design Days--Downtown Dubai

Sikka Festival--Al Fahidi Historical District 

Art Dubai--Madinat Jumeriah

Of course, these events are only temporary and the overdrive artistic hoopla must end, but even then, Dubai boasts two central gallery hubs that promise to put this city on the international contemporary art map. The first of these two, the Gate Village, is part of the DIFC, a kind of free-zone where a good number of banks and other financial institutions have set up shop to get out of otherwise strict business establishment laws. It is home to a Wall Street kind of crowd and the area looks much like La Défense in Paris in that it is a kind of city within a city. It is certainly not the first locale one might think to create an cultural oasis, but the fact that the DIFC naturally attracts (often wealthy) foreigners who hail from places with more historical artistic inclinations, this "village" has become quite successful. Twenty-some galleries are there now, some from the beginning, others are just a few years old. Still others began at Gate Village and have since migrated to the second, newer, artistic district in Dubai. 

This industrial neighborhood, known as Al Quoz, has for most of its existence been the home to maritime warehouses, canning factories, storage units and other less-than-glamourous functions. Before the establishment of several galleries in this area, most notably those belonging to the Alserkal Avenue complex, unless you worked in this area, you would have no other reason to go there. 

Here's a fun anecdote: upon my first visit to Dubai, I tried to take the metro to Alserkal to check out some of the galleries there, stubbornly refusing to take a cab and not quite understanding or believing Google Map's claim that this cluster of culture was over a thirty minute walk from both "nearby" stations. Well, it was right. I found myself (clad in short lacy shorts and a tank top, mind you) lost in an industrial area where most people there had no idea that there even were galleries in the environs. I tried asking some of the few individuals that I came across for directions, but upon realizing that I was seemingly the first woman they had seen all day, if not all week, I decided to put an end to that practice. The area is so vast that even after having walked around for over two hours, covered in sweat and dust, I never did end up finding the elusive Alserkal.

My second visit was more successful, I had GPS, and I took a cab. When I got there, it sort of felt like walking into a kind of artistic Narnia: you pass through a set of imposing iron gates and discover gallery after gallery of new exciting art (both by artists from the region and beyond), creative "brainstorming" studios, funky little cafés and more. Some of the galleries at Alserkal, such as Carbon 12, actually began in the Gate Village or in other parts of the city but eventually moved here to have larger warehouse space, more conducive to larger installation projects. Other galleries opened directly in the Al Quoz area, while still others, though few, have branches in both main hubs. 

I have only been here for about a month, so of course I am sure there are other interesting pockets of art and culture here that I have yet to discover, but this is what I have been able to experience thus far. Indeed, there isn't the overwhelming choice one has in larger international capital cities, but there is quite a lot already. Something that is true in almost every domain here is that if it doesn't exist here yet, it will in the near future. "Coming soon" signs are ubiquitous in Dubai, and so like every other sector, I like to think that the art scene here is a work in progress and only promises to become more complex and nuanced with time. I personally hope to play a role in that transformation and hope that this move will provide interesting and elsewhere impossible career opportunities. Be the change you want to see in the world, right?