Art Dubai has never been one to follow the formula of established global art fairs like Art Basel or Frieze. Instead, it has steadily carved out its own identity as a platform that bridges East and West, embracing artists and galleries from the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia) region while remaining firmly rooted in its home city’s dynamic cultural landscape.
This year, Art Dubai 2025 continued to assert its unique ethos, presenting over 100 galleries from more than 50 countries, a testament to its unwavering commitment to global representation. First-time exhibitors such as Bortolami from New York, Don Gallery from Shanghai, and Milan’s Cortesi Gallery punctuated the fair’s expanding international footprint while emphasizing the fair’s cross-cultural narrative.
Curated into four main sections – Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba and Digital – the fair offered an engaging spectrum of artistic narratives. Bawwaba, curated by Switzerland’s Mirjam Varadinis, spotlighted emerging artists like Nina Kintsurashvili from Georgia and Iran’s Mohammad Piryaee, who brought fresh, globally relevant perspectives. The Modern section, overseen by Dr. Nada Shabout and Magalí Arriola, traced the enduring impact of 20th-century masters like Bahman Mohasses and Ibrahim El-Salahi, furthering Art Dubai’s role as a custodian of regional art history.
Beyond the big-name galleries and established artists, Art Dubai 2025 saw a significant shift towards emerging and underrepresented voices, especially from the UAE and broader MENASA region. Efie Gallery’s sale of El Anatsui’s “The Bend in the River” for $600,000 underscored the strength of regional collectors, while Tabari Artspace reported the sale of three large-scale works by Tagreed Darghouth, each fetching $35,000. Notably, there was a marked interest in contemporary works from young and mid-career artists, a move that signaled a maturation in the collector base.
Image Courtesy of Federica Schiavo Gallery
While Art Dubai has never positioned itself as a ‘trophy art’ fair, it remains a strategic platform for artists and galleries to engage with a rapidly evolving regional market. The emphasis was less on multi-million-dollar, high-wattage pieces and more on works that speak to the Middle East’s layered histories and contemporary complexities. This year’s fair reaffirmed Dubai’s place as a crucial hub for art and culture – not by imitating Art Basel’s blue-chip dominance, but by leaning into its own strengths: a gateway between worlds, a meeting point for artistic dialogues, and a pulse-check on emerging artistic voices from regions often overlooked by the broader art market.
In an increasingly saturated global art calendar, Art Dubai’s commitment to offering something different – not just in terms of geography but in terms of ethos – is what sets it apart. It’s not trying to be Art Basel. It doesn’t have to be.
Image credit: Cedric Ribeiro for Art Dubai 2025
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