Art Dubai

 The “Arena” Room in Art Dubai, a carousel; Dizzying at points and magical at others. Withviewers from all ages, including those in strollers and wheel chairs, making their way through the 80 galleries on display up through the last second.

 

Places to stop: Traffic Gallery(Dubai) flashing its urban pop art with Mahmoud Bakhshi’s scaffolded  “Jumhuriya” and a glimpse at man’s slow suicide with Ahmed Matar’s “evolution of man.”

"Jumhuriya"

"Evolution of Man", Ahmed Matar

Al Marsa Gallery (Tunis) embarrassing the  heritage of North African artisan and calligraphy with Jna Mahdaoui’s installation on 10 drums ‘hourufiyat’ and Rachid Koraichi calligraphed chairs and panel “J’aurai tant aime caresser un nuage” 2011.

"Hourufiyat", Ina Mahdaoui

"J'aurai tant aime caresser un nuage"

AB Gallery (Basel) placing Samira Al Khanzadeh at the forefront of their display “with the passage of time;” coming from her continued fascination with lights, windows and use of mirrors as a way to open artwork to viewers and environment.

"With the passage of time", Samira Al Khanzadeh

Galeria Continua (Italy) creates a life size passage with its “towers of love” by Moataz Nasr.

"Towers of love", Moataz Nasr

Other galleries that left a mark include: Al Bareh (Bahrian) with calligraphic strokes of Hamza Bounour,Athr (Saudi Arabia) with AymanYossari’s mirror flag, Ayyam Gallery (Syria, Dubai) with SafwanDahoul’s mural and Janine Rubeiz (Lebanon) with the diversity of its collection. Plus, Rose Issa (London), Carbon 12 (Dubai) and the Guild (Mumbai/NY)

Janine Rubeiz Gallery

Ayyam Gallery