"It is very, very bad," says Saleh Barakat, who runs his eponymous gallery in Beirut. "You have a million people who are sleeping on the streets or who are in precarious accommodation in schools. It is everywhere around you." This quote powerfully highlights the current crisis in Lebanon, reflecting the stark realities faced by many amidst the ongoing conflicts, revealing how external events overshadowed the fair's celebration of art.
The fair's director Dyala Nusseibeh said that the fair's goal going forward was to deepen the knowledge around Middle Eastern art histories. "We're looking at Modern art histories of the region, from the region, with research coming out from here," Nusseibeh says. "That's really important to us as a fair." This underscores the fair's aspiration to focus on regional narratives and histories in art.
There was a sense that Abu Dhabi's sustained investment in art—with the cones of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the latticework of the Zayed National Museum rising in the distance—and the influx of high net-worth newcomers to the city had moved this year's edition up a notch. This showcases the influence of continued development and financial support for the arts in enhancing the fair’s significance and scale.
A carpet commission based on the Palestinian flag—designed by the Emirati artist Najat Makki and produced by the Afghan/UAE Fatima bint Mohammed Initiative—greeted visitors as they walked through the door. This artistic piece serves as a poignant reminder of the interconnectedness of regional struggles and represents an effort to instigate dialogue through art.
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