Saadiyat: a new home is where the art is

ABU DHABI // The Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2011 opened the doors of its new home to guests last night in a lavish event.

The opening attracted aficionados and connoisseurs from around the world to Saadiyat Island to peruse the 50 galleries spread across the two floors of the UAE Pavilion.

This is the first time the event has being held at the Manarat Al Saadiyat art exhibition centre. For the past two years it has been held at the Emirates Palace hotel.

Galleries presented a cross-section of art from New York to London, including a work by Alexander Calder in the Edward Tyler Neham Gallery, which greeted visitors when they entered the pavilion.

It has been a long 11 months and hectic past four days, but organisers of the Fair 2011 were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief as the UAE Pavilion opened on time.

The pavilion, designed by Foster+Partners, was the night's main attraction.

The dune-shaped structure, originally designed for the Shanghai World Expo 2010, was relocated to the UAE in more than 24,000 parts to be re-assembled within 11 months.

"I was so interested to see the UAE Pavilion because I think it's amazing it came all the way from Shanghai to here," said Hind Balfaqeh, an Emirati art buff. "It is really impressive. I am a big art fan, so I'm happy to be here."

The gallery owner Salwa Zeidan said the pavilion was "just pieces on the ground" a few weeks ago.

"What you see now was done in the past four days," Ms Zeidan said. "It's really amazing. People were questioning whether it would be done on time or not, but they have done a miraculous work."

Ms Zeidan, who owns the Salwa Zeidan Gallery in Abu Dhabi, is mainly displaying works by Emirati artists at the event, including a popular piece by Hassan Sharif.

"I've attended a lot of big art events around the world and I just don't know how they managed to do it," she said. "Just one week ago this was a mess. I couldn't even enter the site because they didn't even let us in.

"Since there has been an art movement and initiative here in Abu Dhabi we have only seen miracles. They do things 10 times faster here than anywhere else."

The event, organised by the Tourism Development and Investment Company and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, has expanded this year to include eight new galleries and three new exhibitions.

The fair is set to bring in more people than last year's event, which was visited by more than 17,000 people, and will offer an array of artistic programmes including film screenings, workshops and panel discussions.

According to Tairone Bastien, the manager of public programmes for Abu Dhabi Art, visitors will have a chance to chat with the gallery owners and artists one-on-one.

"People will be able to interact with the artists and gallerists in a quick but intimate setting, and it will be a platform for people to discuss ideas," Mr Bastien said.

The art collector Ramin Salsali, who recently opened the Salsali Private Museum in Dubai's Al Quoz area, said he hoped Dubai and Abu Dhabi art circles would "merge forces" and unite under one umbrella.

"I wish that one day I will see 'United Art Emirates', which will create an enormous energy," Mr Salsali said.

The art fair, which was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Sheikh Shakbout bin Nahyan bin Mubarak, will run until November 19.

molson@thenational.ae