Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Abu Dhabi Art has announced that the 15th edition of the Abu Dhabi Art Fair will open dialogue amongst the art community on topics relating to sustainability and the environment in the run-up to the highly anticipated 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP28).
This year’s event will welcome 92 galleries, with a special Gallery Focus on sustainability led by Riccarda Mandrini, a journalist and university professor in Milan.
By invitation from Mandrini, the selected galleries will present artworks reflecting on the natural environment and flowers, paying tribute to COP28, emphasising the urgency of climate action and also underlying the importance of nature as a fundamental element of our lives.
Nine galleries are participating in this sector, from the UK, Spain, Tunisia, Germany, Nigeria, Italy, Egypt, and South Africa, with paintings, sculptures, photography, and poetry.
Lia Rumma, an Italian gallerist, will be attending the Abu Dhabi Art Fair for the first time with a wide range of international artists reflecting on representations of nature.
Artists also include William Kentridge who will present a series of drawings and studies from his project “Waiting for the Sibyl”. Gallery Anna Laudel will also be attending Abu Dhabi Art Fair for the first time to feature in the fair’s Sustainablity focus, showcasing some of its most prominent artists.
Aicha Gorgi, a Tunisian gallerist, will return to Abu Dhabi Art Fair for the second time, following the success achieved last year in 2022. Fair visitors will be able to see works by artists such as Najah Zarbout, which focus solely on the colour white and are layered using fragile materials such as fine paper.
Alongside the Sustainability-inspired gallery sector, Abu Dhabi Art will also be transforming its community projects space into a collective and collaborative installation, inviting Nadine Maalouf – Co-Founder of 81 Designs to lead this year’s Community Projects section focusing on Sustainability.
Under Maalouf’s guidance, the eleven community partners will work together to create one unified installation, weaving together different initiatives into a powerful narrative on the environment.
The community projects section creates an avenue through which partners can amplify their voices and drive further engagement with a diverse audience base. After the fair, the installation will remain on display for an extended period of time and will also feature at COP28 from November 30 to December 12.
To underscore the environmental theme that runs throughout this year’s exhibitions, Abu Dhabi Art has embraced sustainability on an operational level – distributing digital tickets, minimising use of paper and reusing event based materials including walls, truss and lighting.
