The annual art fair finally opens its doors to the public today after two days of patrons previews and VIP welcomes.
I am lucky enough to have taken the tours of the galleries and can safely say that this year seems set to be a successful fair.
Housing over 70 galleries, the two halls of contemporary galleries is where most of the action is happening. With installations, paintings and sculptures infiltrating every corner, there is much to feast your eyes on.
Personal favourites include the photography from Valérie Belin at Galerie Nathalie Obadia as well as the stunning group collection under Rose Issa Projects from London. I am also charmed by the work of Tiffany Chung, a Vietnamese artist displaying with Tyler Rollins Fine Art Gallery. She creates urban pop landscapes that comment on the socio-historical politics and exhibited at the Sharjah Biennale last year.
In the Modern section, which is a much lauded addition to the fair because it lays out the clear path of inspiration that led to the vibrance of the contemporary section, I loved the work of Baya, an Algerian artist whose was already a master by the age of 17 and who was a contemporary of Pablo Picasso.
Also in this section are a magnificent collection paintings at Lawrie Shabibi gallery from Nabil Nahas made in the 1970s.
In the non-profit space I look forward to seeing the results of Maitha Demithan’s live scanning booth and would recommend any visitor to the fair to visit Mounira Al Solh’s installation that takes the form of a shoe stall. Swap your regular pumps for a pair of wooden shower sandals made in Damascus and walk around the fair in someone else’s shoes for a while. They are as uncomfortable as they sound but that is exactly the point.
After your feet are tired and your eyes are saturated, head to the Global Art Forum for some brain food. With interesting panels covering the fairly abstract concept of imagining the world with no history as well as exploring the effects that history has upon all our story-making, this the ideal way to top of your visit.
* Art Dubai runs until Saturday at Mina A'Salaam hotel and the Madinat Jumeirah. For more info visit www.artdubai.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Abandon
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EQureos%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E33%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESoftware%20and%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
