Dubai’s art scene is ever-growing, and the emirate is always launching new initiatives and ideas to showcase the country’s local creative talents. A new initiative that aims to collect and exhibit art works in Dubai, the “Dubai Collection,” features the personal art collections of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Chairperson of the Dubai Collection Steering Committee.
The exhibition will open to the public towards the end of this year at the Etihad Museum, and will present 87 artworks lent by other well-known art collectors in the UAE that have been selected to participate. Moreover, the exhibition will launch in an online digital museum for people all over the world to view it.
In a statement about the forthcoming, and first of its kind exhibition, Sheikha Latifa said, “The announcement of the first artworks that form part of the Dubai Collection is an exciting moment in the initiative's development. The innovative partnership model we have developed for the collection reflects Dubai’s emergence as the nucleus of the region’s artistic renaissance and its role as a key player in fostering collaborations that advance cultural development.”
Some of the acquired works of art that will include pieces by renowned contemporary Arab artists, such as Adam Henein (Egypt, 1929 -2020), Baya Mahieddine (Algeria, 1931 – 1998) and Fateh Moudarres (Syria, 1922 – 1999). The director of the Museums Department at Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Muna Faisal Al Gurg, and members of Dubai Collection’s independent Curatorial Committee, will meet to review the artworks and showcase new artworks submitted by collectors from the region, every 3 months.
The themes of the Dubai Collection’s forthcoming exhibition explore belonging, culture, identity and Dubai’s ever-evolving facade. One committee member, Maryam Al Dabbagh stated, “The (Dubai) Collection takes a non-linear approach, not only in recognizing the contemporaneity of modern work from the region, but also in considering the rich contributions of regional and international artists to the local art scene that has grown alongside the development of Dubai in the last 50 years.”
