By Louise Chen
Originally published on artinfo.com, July 30, 2010
http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/34911/art-dubai-names-antonia-carver-as-director/
Leading Middle Eastern art fair Art Dubai has appointed Antonia Carver, a journalist and curator who has most recently led Bidoun Projects, as its new director. Prior to the appointment, she worked as editor-at-large for Bidoun magazine (the publishing side of the Middle Eastern cultural outlet) and the Art Newspaper (which first reported her appointment), as well as the Dubai International Film Festival, where she served on the board.
The Dubai Art Fair is partly owned by the Dubai International Finance Center, a conglomerate of financial companies that is a major patron of the arts in the Middle East. Last year, Abaraaj Capital, an equity company that is part of the DIFC, presented the first annual Abraaj Capital Art Prize at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, awarding three emerging artists — from Iran, Algeria, and Turkey — with $200,000 and showing their works at the museum and the Dubai Art Fair.
Officials from the fair say that they plan to work closely with the Sharjah Biennale to raise the international awareness of artists from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia as they expand into those regions. Recently there has been a surge in contemporary art in the Middle East, as wealthy locals have flocked to international and regional art fairs, snapping up works along the way.