Dubai Art Season kicks off to promote creativity, draw tourist

The Dubai Art Season 2024 kicks off today, with the emirate shifting focus on positioning itself as an incubator for creativity and talent, while using the three-month long event as a tourism draw. Running until March 7, this year’s theme is ‘Take a Walk on the Art Side’. The 2024 edition will include a film festival, entertainment activities and a spotlight on artistic innovations.

“This season, Dubai Culture’s mission is to bolster cultural tourism and foster the growth of Dubai’s vibrant creative economy, with our ambitious aim of establishing the emirate as the global capital of the creative economy by 2026,” Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash, CEO of the Arts & Literature Sector at Dubai Culture, said in a statement. Headline events The season commences today with the third edition of Al Marmoom: Film in the Desert, a film festival running until January 21. With the theme ‘Stories at One with Nature,’ the festival includes a diverse programme of activities designed to enhance the profile of the regional film industry.

The themed festival will showcase a selection of films by Emirati, GCC and Arab filmmakers, along with workshops, panel discussions, exhibitions, and artwork inspired by the history of local cinema. Expo 2020 Dubai will launch the inaugural edition of the Dubai Lights Festival at Al Wasl Plaza from January 26 to February 4. The 11th edition of the Quoz Arts Fest will follow on January 27 and 28,, featuring over 200 artistic and cultural events at Al Quoz Creative Zone and Alserkal Avenue.

It will also include an interactive experience created by Japanese artist Yuri Suzuki. The 16th edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will start on January 31 and run until February 6 at InterContinental Hotel Festival City. The festival will bring together a select group of writers from around the world and feature over 160 activities, including ‘Without Hope We Are Lost’, a special evening of poetry and performance dedicated to the life and work of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

The festival will further celebrate Emirati writers and their contributions through the ‘Bil Emirati’ event. The season will also include the 12th edition of the Sikka Art and Design Festival, highlighting visual arts and local and regional artistic innovations from February 23 to March 3, in Al Shindagha Historic Neighbourhood. During the period from February 28 to March 10, the public can attend ‘Big Bad Wolf’, known as the world’s biggest book sale at Dubai Studio City, offering a wide range of books and publications with discounts of up to 75%.

Throughout February and March, Al Quoz Creative Zone and Alserkal Avenue will host a series of cultural and creative events, including art exhibitions, discussions, and diverse experiences. From March 4 to 8, the fourth edition of the Dubai Festival for School Theatre, organised by Dubai Culture, will show the creativity of school students. The season’s programme also includes the 17th edition of Art Dubai, held in Madinat Jumeirah from March 1 to 3.

This edition of the exhibition involves the participation of over 100 galleries across its four sections: Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba, and Art Dubai Digital. (Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria) bindu. rai@lseg.

com.