Art Dubai has bowed to the inevitable and announced changes to its plans for this year’s art fair – new dates, new location, reduced scale – to accommodate the persistent pandemic and concerns about attendance by visitors (transmission risks) and galleries (travel restrictions).
At least Art Dubai hasn’t been cancelled or postponed, until several other 2021 art fairs. It is moving to DIFC, where it will set up home for a reduced number of galleries in a purpose-built but temporary structure under the iconic Gate Building. The dates have been adjusted slightly: it now runs 29 March to 3 April, six days rather than the four originally scheduled.
The move to DIFC seems eminently sensible – better access, better parking, more space, and more opportunity for the safety restrictions that will be required. “By moving to DIFC and creating a purpose-built structure, we will be able to better manage access to the fair and implement all the measures we need to ensure the safest possible environment for our galleries and our visitors” said Benedetta Ghione, Art Dubai’s Executive Director (right).
Art Dubai says it remains “confident” in producing a physical edition of this year’s fair, which implies the possibility of a last-minute switch to online-only – or possibly postponement. In that case, there doesn’t seem much room left in the 2021 calendar.
The official statement says the fair’s organisers “along with our partners” understand their responsibility to the community: “Our new plan takes into account health and safety protocols, travel and other COVID-related restrictions, along with the continued commitment from our local community who wish to attend an in person art event”.
“DIFC has world class facilities in terms of restaurants and cafes as well as a range of flexible exhibition spaces. This means we can be more flexible with our wider (non-gallery) programming depending on the restrictions that are in place at the end of March.”
That flexibility applies to the attendance options too. “A booking system through our new app will enable us to operate on an appointment-only basis or open as normal, a decision we can take closer to the fair, guided by the latest advice.”
So how have the galleries reacted to the news of a reduced fair and a new location? Benedetta Ghione told us the decision to move was taken in consultation with the galleries and the response has been “extremely” positive – “they appreciate that we are doing everything we can to support the market at this time”.
The last Art Dubai had 92 gallery exhibitors and this year was apparently aiming for 86 or so, but the temporary building can apparently house around 45. Does this reflect a reduced target on the part of the art fair’s organisers? No, says Ms Ghione. “As it stands, our main challenge is finding enough space to accommodate the number of galleries wanting to take part.”
International travel restrictions will of course have an impact on the ability of galleries outside the UAE to attend the fair in physical form, but for them Art Dubai is offering a kind of virtual viewing room system in the form of a Remote Participation Package. This “will enable galleries to virtually present their physical exhibitions and allow visitors in Dubai to experience artworks in person”. Benedetta Ghione reckons this programme will provide the galleries with “some certainty and security in today’s world when travel restrictions are regularly updated” – so would-be in-person attenders could switch to virtual attendance at short notice if necessary.
There’s a nod to history in the new location – “t was also underneath the iconic Gate Building that we first announced the first Gulf Art Fair way back in 2006, so it has always been part of the Art Dubai story” – and Ms Ghione told us that there’s no plan to dump the Madinat Jumeirah as Art Dubai’s venue: “we fully expect to return to the Madinat next year – it has been home to Art Dubai since its inception and is the best venue in town for an event like ours in a normal time”.
So does this mean business as usual from next year? Or has Covid-19 provided the incentive and/or the opportunity for art fairs to change fundamentally in the way they operate? Benedetta Ghione is bullish about the future: “If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that a purely digital format has limitations; I think people miss in-person experiences, whether that be looking at art in person or meeting others
“Like any business, art fairs have to continue to innovate to stay relevant, but as long as they continue to do their job of bringing the cultural sector together, we believe they have a secure future”.
The art fair calendar
The art fair market – which typically relies on travel for both exhibitors and visitors – has generally responded to the pandemic by postponing in-person events, in some cases more than once. A couple of weeks ago Art Basel, generally regarded as the bellwether for the modern and contemporary art fair circuit, announced another postponement from June to September – “under the assumption that at-risk people and healthcare workers will be vaccinated by early summer, so lockdown and travel restrictions should then ease,” says Marc Spiegler, director of the Art Basel fairs.
September seems to be the preferred timeframe for many, in fact. Liste Art Fair Basel, which always runs at the same time as its better-known sort-of competitor, has switched. Tefaf Maastricht, another important European fair, also followed Art Basel almost immediately with a move to September; its usual March slot had already been rescheduled for May, but apparently exhibitors felt that was too soon to be fell confident about travel.
In the States New York’s Independent Art Fair has also moved from March to September, though in part this is a deliberate move to coincide with the Armory Show (which had already switched from Spring 2020 to Autumn 2021 as part of its move to the Javits Center). Art Vancouver, another smallish but fast-growing event, postponed from April to September.
July seems the second-best option for some postponements. Taipei Dangdai in Taiwan moved from January to May before settling on July. Frieze Los Angeles switched from February to July, though it plans to return to February for 2022.
And the Melbourne Art Fair, due to be held in February, has been postponed until 2022 along with Art Brussels, Tefaf New York Spring, and others.
There’s a lot of art fairs bon the calendar but we’ve been trying to track the changes in their dates. Here’s our latest take on the schedule for the rest of 2021 :
And these have been postponed altogether from this year to 2022 …
| 23-30 Jan | 🇧🇪 BRAFA Art Fair |
| 17-20 Feb | 🇦🇺 Melbourne Art Fair |
| 17-21 Feb | 🇺🇸 Art Wynwood |
| 18-21 Mar | 🇺🇸 Palm Beach Modern & Contemporary |
| April tbc | 🇧🇪 Art Brussels |
| 8–11 Apr | 🇺🇸 Expo Chicago |
| 6-10 May | 🇺🇸 TEFAF New York Spring |
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