Rebecca Anne Proctor

DUBAI: Art Dubai — which is marking its 18th edition this year — is returning and brings together 120 galleries from across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas in what is expected to be one of the event’s most multicultural programs yet. Taking place from April 18-20, the event will host a calendar of daily talks, book launches, tours and other attractions.

Its diverse program includes Art Dubai Modern, curated this year by Magali Arriola and Nada Shabout, and Art Dubai Digital by Gonzalo Herrero Delicado and Bawwaba — which means “Gateway” — presenting 10 solo presentations by artists from various countries curated by Mirjam Varadinis and focusing on themes of migration, identity and displacement.

The event’s digital section, the first of its kind in an art fair, organized in partnership with Dubai Culture, highlights the rising influence of artificial intelligence and immersive technology in artistic creation. Installations by Hybrid Xperience, Breakfast, and Ouchhh Studio are featured, as well as 22 digital platforms from Dubai and internationally.

Entitled “After the Technological Sublime,” Delicado told Arab News that the theme aimed to provide “an opportunity to rethink what sublime is today: the concept that we have inherited since the 17th century when explorers were going out to explore the world. Now we can contrast that moment with what we are living today in the age of information and social media.”

In light of 30 new participating galleries from around the world, Pablo del Val, the event’s artistic director, said: “The really exciting aspect of this fair is the quality of the artworks.

“I think that this year you can see the maturity of the participants and really understand the vocabularies and the formats and the media that sell well in the city.

“There’s also a lot of color. The works we are showing this year show the state of the world we are living in, from technological change to a desire for escapism.”