Dubai To Launch A Massive Art Collection… Without Buying Any Of The Art
Image via Art Dubai
Dubai’s government is giving its local art scene a nudge and building the Dubai Collection, its first institutional art series. However, what sets it apart from others is the fact that all the artwork in it will be on loan, instead of purchased.
Developed by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Art Dubai, the collection will be hosted both online and, later in the year, physically at the Etihad museum. It’s an initiative to “collect, promote and exhibit artworks that convey the spirit of the emirate,” as described in a press release.
The collection is “an opportunity for patrons to showcase their collections and for artists to have their artworks included in a publicly accessible platform,” writes Art Dubai. According to CNN, contributors will lend their works to organizers for 10 years while retaining legal ownership.
A.R.M. Holding, a private investment firm, announced earlier this month that 19 artworks from the A.R.M. Holding Art Collection were selected by the leading Curatorial Committee to join the collection. The digital exhibition is also being hosted on its website.
Dubai Collection is believed to be an innovative and faster way of building a full art collection, instead of relying on government funding and the purchase of individual art pieces to sustain it.
“Creating a national collection is often a lengthy process of navigating an ever-changing art market and diplomatic negotiations with stakeholders,” Muna Al Gurg, chair of Dubai Collection’s curatorial committee, tells CNN.
“But through our loan-based model we expect to be able to develop several exhibition concepts in the first few years within launching the initiative.”
“History is best told through art, we see no better way of keeping record of Dubai’s history than through this medium of expression.” Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi on being #DubaiCollection's 1st corporate patron. Tour the A.R.M. Holding Art Collection: https://t.co/flAtmRQ43b pic.twitter.com/ZhphBAUkdK
— A.R.M. Holding (@ArMholding) August 1, 2021
[via CNN, image via Art Dubai]
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