Art Dubai, the leading international fair in the Middle East and South Asia, has revealed the 76 galleries selected to take part in the seventh edition of the region’s leading art fair.

The line-up includes some of the most influential art spaces from the Middle East, Asia and Africa as well as leading galleries from across Europe and America. Participants from 29 countries will be involved in what promises to be the most dynamic edition in Art Dubai’s history.

“Art Dubai has grown from strength to strength over the course of the last seven years and now truly epitomizes the globalised phenomenon that is today’s art world,” said Antonia Carver, fair director of Art Dubai.

“The assessment process, conducted by Art Dubai’s independent selection committee, has been rigorous, with the available positions heavily oversubscribed. We are thrilled with the line-up of participating galleries who together will create the most diverse fair yet.”

Marker, the curated section of concept stands which focuses each year on a particular theme or geography, exemplifies Art Dubai’s role as a site of discovery and cross-cultural exchange.

Following a focus on Indonesia in 2012, Marker 2013 is curated by Lagos-based curator Bisi Silva, and explores the nature of changing cities through the work of artists and arts organisations from West Africa.

Bisi Silva has selected five spaces to participate in the fair and to work collaboratively with their artists to produce exhibitions for Art Dubai: Centre for Contemporary Art (Lagos), Espace doual'art (Douala), Maison Carpe Diem (Segou), Nubuke Foundation (Accra) and Raw Material Company (Dakar).

“We have created a programme focusing particularly on the work of dynamic, independent organisations and both established and emerging artists dealing with specific localities,” said Silva.

Following the success of Art Dubai in 2012, many key galleries will be returning in March 2013, including Athr Gallery (Jeddah), Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York), Galerie Chantal Crousel (Paris), D Gallerie (Jakarta), Experimenter (Kolkata) and Alexander Gray Associates (New York), among others.

New international entrants include Greenaway (Adelaide/Berlin), Yvon Lambert (Paris), Victoria Miro (London), Almine Rech Gallery (Paris/Brussels), Schleicher/Lange (Berlin/Paris) and Tanja Wagner (Berlin).

The seventh edition of Art Dubai reflects the ever-accelerating growth of the local and regional art scene. Art Dubai hosts more artists and galleries from the Arab world than any other arts event. Over 500 artists will participate in Art Dubai, brought together by the selected participating galleries and the fair’s extensive non-commercial programming.

Artists set to have a high profile at Art Dubai 2013 include Abdul Qader Al Rais, Etel Adnan, Kutlug Ataman, Yto Barrada, Daniel Buren, Annabel Daou and Wim Delvoye, among others.

The seventh edition of Art Dubai takes place from March 20 to 23, 2013, at Madinat Jumeirah. – TradeArabia News Service