Art Dubai is an international art fair held in Dubai annually since 2006. The ninth edition was held in March 2015.^[1] The fair is held in partnership with The Abraaj Group and is sponsored by Emaar and Julius Baer.^[2] The founders of the fair were Benedict Floyd and John Martin. Floyd remains chief executive officer of the fair. The directors of the fair are Savita Apte and Antonia Carver.^[3]

History

Launched in 2007, as DIFC Gulf Art Fair, with 40 exhibitors and an attendance of 9000 visitors.^[4] In 2008 the fair was rebranded as Art Dubai at Madinat Jumeirah under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai.The 2008 Fair was held between 19-22 March^[5] and received over 68 Participating art galleries from 30 countries ^[6].

Abraaj Group Art Prize

An open call for artists from Middle East, North Africa and South Asia to submit their project proposals and the winner is awarded a US$100,000 grant for a commissioned piece of art to be displayed to the public during Art Dubai^[7].

Global Art Forum

• Global Art Forum 1: Initially launched as DIFC Global Art forum under DIFC Gulf Art Fair, A three day public discussion that brought an international group of forty artists,art professionals and academics together to discuss issues effecting the art scene in the Middle East.^[8] The central themes of the forum was ‘Artists and their Work’, ‘The Next Ten Years of Contemporary Art in the Middle East’ and ‘Cities and Culture’.
• Global Art Forum 2^[9]: Held in two parts, " Art & Patronage in the Business Age theme" between 17-19 March, and the second part focused on artists, curation and museums between 19-21 March 2008. ^[10].
• Global Art forum 3: More than 20 hours of discussion on issues critical to the Middle East and international art landscapes, including 59 speakers.^[11]
• Global Art Forum 4: Presented by Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Titled Crucial Moments, the 2010 Forum explored evolving aspects of contemporary culture including education, mapping modernism, art writing, and patronage, commenced between Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.^[12]
• Global Art Forum 5: Focused on key issues that bring the art scenes of the region together with the rest of the world. Presented By Dubai Culture and Arts Authority in association with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art,Qatar Museums Authority,Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage and the Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Bahrain.
• Global Art Forum 6: Expanded to six days and featured commissioned projects and research, as well as live debates and presentations. Global Art Forum 6 was directed by writer Shumon Basar and characterised by a particularly innovative and dynamic approach.Speakers: Jack Bankowsky | Wafaa Bilal | Pierre Bal Blanc | Germano Celant | Stuart Comer | Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy | Michael Danoff | Chris Dercon | Liu Ding | HE Omar Saif Ghobash | Masoud Golsorkhi | Isabelle Graw | Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige | Nav Haq | Malak Helmy | Wassan Al Khudairi | Joerg Koch | Vasif Kortun | Jo Backer Laird | Carol Yinghua Lu | Sebastian Lütgert | Suhail Malik | Penny Martin | Chus Martinez | Hans Ulrich Obrist | Remi Paringaux | Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi | Slavs and Tatars | Philip Tinari | Francesco Vezzoli | Kaelen Wilson-Goldie | Tirdad Zolghadr|Stuart Comer | Ziba Ardalan de Weck | Beth Rudin DeWoody | Dana Farouki | Susan & Michael Hort | Anurag Khanna||Wael Shawky | Sherif El Azma | Sarah Rifky | Negar Azimi | Natascha Sadr Haghighian.^[13]
• Global Art Forum 7: Took place over five days, between March 15-16 in Doha and March 19-21 in Dubai.^[14]
• Global Art Forum 8: The event has been programmed by writer Shumon Basar; the curator-translator Omar Berrada, co-director of Dar al-Ma'mun in Marrakech, and the artist and curator Ala Younis. The discussions were held at Katara Arts Center, Doha between March 15-16 and at Art Dubai,Madinat Jumeirah,on March 19-21 2014 ^[15].
• Global Art Forum 9: Hosted for the first time between Kuwait and Dubai, With 50 local and international contributors and covered theme of technologies and their impact on the world of art and culture. Titled Download Update?, the Forum was co-directed by Turi Munthe, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and Shumon Basar.^[16]