In 2008, The Guardian's art critic Adrian Searle wrote a cautionary guide to those looking to write about art. One of the sections of that inclusive and inviting monologue that always sticks in my mind, "Never write about what you haven't seen."
But the premise of the online-only VIP Art Fair 2.0, which kicked off on February 3, and carries on until February 8, is that seeing isn't really all that necessary to enjoying. Not seeing in the tactile, real, in-front-of-your-eyes sense. Art, it would seem, can be digested and decided upon (and hopefully bought) simply via the power of the jpeg.
Here's me stood in front of Haneen (2000) by the Moroccan artist Hassan Hajjaj, on Dubai gallery The Third Line's booth.
More than 130 exhibitors are taking part this year, in the second edition of the fair. Galleries haven't had to worry about shipping works to some trade hall, nor do they have to wear plastered-on smiles and make chit-chat with even the most passing interested party. Everything takes place through the screen: fielding questions from buyers and collectors, earnest discussions about the market of the sort that get banded around in non virtual fairs, and even occasional performative 'happenings' taking place at allotted times.
It's entirely free for public browsing, and he sheer scale of it can be daunting save for those either extraordinarily curious or at least fairly in the know. Works tend to be accompanied by descriptions, some written by the artist, which are useful if often too lengthy for snappy browsing. Similarly, the 'Tours' are basically just selections from the dizzying amount of works across the 'halls' (how some of these tourmasters managed to organise from this 1,787-strong mass of artworks really is beyond me), with occasional one-liner comments from the curator.
Among the big-hitters, there's the usual bunch (Gagosian, The Pace Gallery, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac), but have a good look through the mid-table for some promising and daring spaces.
Locally, The Third Line, Carbon 12 and Lawrie Shabibi are taking part.
Interaction with galleries is, however, slightly tepid. Given that exhibitors are coming from all over the world and varying time zones (look out for the Latin American galleries, some sparky works in there), there's no live chat capabilities built into the front-end of the fair. Contact details are all there, but it would be great to be able to have just quick couple-of-line conversations in the manner of how one tends to wander a real fair.
Being able to filter according to geography is quite useful, and makes exploring some of the lesser known spaces a pleasant experience. The system is also so well-wrought that the process of exploring is fast and user-friendly.
But the VIP Art Fair really does raise questions about how we digest art these days. If this is, as one Dubai gallerist suggested to me over the weekend, the future of art fairs, then importance seems to be shifting away from physical interaction with a piece for those who intend to buy. This online-only world seems to dismiss the necessity for a face-to-face confrontation with a piece that, really until now, was the basis of how we consume art. Sure, an art fair tends to be a hectic, crammed-in trade fair of objects produced in the very private, introverted kiln of an artist's imagination. While the VIP Art Fair makes looking through works a far more relaxed experience, I still think there's something to be said for looking at and wandering around a piece.
This is most evident in the sculptures here (sculpture is the second most predominant medium in the fair after painting). Reduced into a 2D world of images and silhouettes for scale, we have to imagine the spatial relationship we might have with a piece, coupled with verbose gallery descriptions, and hope to have some moment of serendipity with a piece.
It'll be interesting to see how sales come out at the end of play this week. But however cerebral and opaque much contemporary art has become, at the crux of how we appreciate a work is a physical, bodily relation to it, surely? Not just looking, but seeing as well.
Decide for yourself. It's free to enter. Head to www.vipartfair.com
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
UAE SQUAD
Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)
