The new Bawwaba section presented solo booths tackling migration, identity and economics by artists from the Global South, while the Residents sector, now in its second year, featured projects by Latin American artists who had been invited by Art Dubai to spend four to eight weeks in the United Arab Emirates producing work especially for the fair. Despite the international focus, Dubai galleries were also well represented, with major local commerical spaces such as Ayyam, Green Art Gallery, Isabelle van den Eynde, and Lawrie Shabibi participating.

Pablo del Val, artistic director of Art Dubai, spoke to AAP on the opening day about the regional balance of participants at this year’s edition: “It’s all about how we can reflect the ways we live together. I was obsessed with the idea of interconnectivity—how things are linked, how we can help the visitor construct a narrative and how you can reflect the DNA of a place.”

Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum, which has served as a hub for cultural dialogue since the beginning of the fair, gathered scholars to discuss arts education, while the Modern Symposium—focused on 20th century art from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia—explored the influence of cities on local modernisms. The inaugural Curators Ideas Exchange Programme brought museum representatives from Tate in London, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou in Paris, New Delhi’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, and more to experience Alserkal Avenue, Jameel Arts Centre, Sharjah Art Foundation—which is currently presenting Sharjah Biennial 14—and other local commercial and nonprofit art venues.

HAMRA ABBAS draws inspiration from the 17th century frescoes of Lahore and Sol LeWitt’s contemporary wall paintings to represent fictional gardens and waterfalls in her inlaid marble sculptures Flowers: Garden of Paradise 2, Waterfalls 1 and 2, Everyday Waterfalls 1 and 3, and Flowers: Garden of Paradise 1 (all 2019) at Canvas Gallery (Karachi).