As the art world continues to adapt and evolve in the digital and NFT realms, new communities are emerging to support these worlds, involving new creators and stakeholders. Art Dubai Digital is a new dedicated section of the fair that seeks to provide a 360-degree overview of the digital art landscape right now, examining the context out of which NFTs, cryptocurrency, video art, and virtual reality (VR) have grown since the rise of digital art in the 1980s and recognising those who are leading the way in the rapidly expanding and developing digital art space.

Art Dubai Digital features a curated section of 17 presentations that represent a broad geographic base – including traditional gallery models, digitally native platforms and collectives, many of whom are participating in an art fair for the first time – and presentations by some of the most exciting and innovative artists working in the digital space today. In addition, 15 artworks from galleries participating in Art Dubai Digital will be dropped on the Bybit platform on the opening day of the fair in the Bybit X Art Dubai Drop. Art Dubai Digital will also include an exhibition of new NFTs created by the 12 UAE-based and international artists taking part in this year’s expanded edition of Campus Art Dubai.

Art Dubai Digital also features an innovative talks programme for a range of audiences. Entitled ‘This is the Picture’ and taking place across four days, the 15th edition of the Global Art Forum will examine the worlds of digital artefacts and crypto economies, inviting leading artists, curators, creators, thinkers and technologists to consider a range of topics from NFT art and curatorial projects, to crypto gaming and the Metaverse, Web3 and Dubai’s new crypto zone.

This high-level multidisciplinary talks programme will be complemented by Bybit Talks, an eclectically curated series of conversations presented by the titular and leading cryptocurrency exchange, with the aim of giving visitors greater understanding about the rapid growth in digital platforms, inviting guest speakers to explain more about the basics of cryptocurrency, digital media and NFTs.

Cyber Baat is a collective of artists of African descent on the blockchain. It is structured as a DAO, allowing artists to collectively fund projects, installations, and exhibitions. The main goal of Cyber Baat is to increase the representation of artists of African descent on the blockchain, while providing them with safe and sustainable avenues to build their creative careers in Web3. Artists exhibited include HVRMemoirs, Vintagemozart, Mikael Owunna and Abieyuwa.

Chris Fussner, Curator of Art Dubai Digital 2022 and Pablo del Val, Artistic Director of Art Dubai commented: “In this debut edition of Art Dubai we wanted to bring a depth and analysis to a sector that is known for hype, myth and can be mystifying to many. We wanted to present an overview of the digital art space as it is right now, looking at how artists are applying and adapting these new technologies and how these digital art spaces are starting to mature. It was important to bring both a global and a local perspective, and to show how the application of digital technologies can be a bridge between the digital and the physical art worlds.”

PostmastersBLOCKCHAIN is a division of Postmasters Gallery, the internationally recognised contemporary art gallery founded in New York in 1984. They present digital art on the blockchain as NFTs and bring contemporary and historical digital works to the crypto ecosystem. Postmasters has been a leading force in the introduction of digital art into the contemporary art world since 1991, capturing a resurgence in digital experimentation triggered by the arrival of desktop computers and the first creative visual software. The gallery’s aim has always been to work with, look at and think about the art that engages new forms of creative expression, specifically art that is not yet “evaluated”, and which reflect engagement in the key issues of our time. Exhibited artists include Gracelee Lawrence, Olive Allen and LoVid.

Emergeast is the MENA region’s first and leading online gallery championing emerging and mid-career Middle Eastern & North African artists. Through a highly curated selection of MENA artists, and a focus on storytelling, their platform is designed to promote cross-cultural dialogue between art enthusiasts and collectors – both young and seasoned – and artists from the MENA region. By advocating innovation culture via NFTs & Web3 and making art accessible to all, Emergeast aims to break down barriers to art collecting. Exhibited artists include: Tarik Chebli, Mazyar Kamkar & Reza Vojdani, Mays Almoosawi, and Hana Shahnavaz.

MORROW collective is a UAE-based NFT curatorial platform founded in March 2021 by Claire Harris, Anna Seaman and Jen Stelco. They curate physical "hybrid" exhibitions, utilising digital canvases, physical art and augmented reality to explore the relationship between traditional art and NFTs. MORROW also hosts Metaverse exhibitions in their huge space in Cryptovoxels, as well as other metaverse platforms. Exhibited artists include: Tayseer Barakat and ZULEYA by FBMI.

Bybit is lead partner of Art Dubai Digital. Art Dubai Digital is also supported by Materia, Crypto Oasis, Nansen Technologies, Dubai Blockchain Center and Martin Professional ME.

Art Dubai 2022 featured more than 120 presentations by 104 galleries and platforms from 44 countries. The gallery programme was complemented by newly commissioned works from leading international artists and an oversubscribed, innovative talks programme, bringing together some of the world’s brightest minds through the 15th edition of Global Art Forum and new Bybit Talks Series.

Art Dubai’s Artistic Director Pablo del Val commented:
“This was without doubt one of the most successful editions of Art Dubai, in terms of both visitors and sales reported, fully reflecting Dubai’s position as an engine of global growth and a city no longer of the future, but of the here and now. The response from audiences and collectors to the debut edition of Art Dubai Digital has been truly incredible. Art Dubai prides itself on being a fair of innovation and forward-thinking, and there was a real freshness and energy to the 2022 edition across the whole programme.”