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 recognizing those who are leading the way in the rapidly expanding and developing digital art space.

Art Dubai Digital 2022 featured 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 featured 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 has been 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. 

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 recognized 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. 

Institut.co represents a new frontier in contemporary art. One of the world’s premier art world NFT platforms, they have a stated aim to “redefine the contemporary art market” over the coming decades. An online platform for both NFTs and physical artworks, they work closely with artists to realise ambitious digital art projects that are exhibited online and across the globe. These are also made available as NFTs to their extensive collector community. They are driven by a belief in the potential of web3 and crypto technologies to increase accessibility and transparency for artists and collectors. Exhibited artists: Krista Kim and Tyler Hobbs. 

GAZELL.iO is the digital art arm of Gazelli Art House, which comprises a physical space in London’s Dover Street; the GAZELL.iO Project Space; and a dynamic online exhibition programme including residency, VR library and a range of NFT initiatives. Since 2015, GAZELL.iO Residency has offered unique opportunities to some of the most recognised and upcoming VR and AR artists, bringing both pioneers of digital art and a new generation of artists to a wider audience through its dynamic exhibition and educational programme. On display will be a new series of works by Orkhan Mammadov. 

Window Project – in collaboration with instigators – presents a generative series of animated digital sculptures in “Sacred Creatures: BajBajas”, a joint NFT project created by Uta Bekaia and Denis Davydov. Active participants in discussions about contemporary art and computer technologies, Davydov and Bekaia present avatars as objects existing between numerous worlds, giving them new content and visual interpretations. They are collaborating on a virtual meta-universe – a new world where fantasy, recollections, and endless possibilities of computer games merge. The name of the project refers to Georgian word “baj-baja” that translates as a smooth movement or walk (similar to Japanese “kawaii”). The exhibited works will be made available on the 4ART NFT Marketplace. 

Fingerprints DAO is a Web3 organisation dedicated to the collection, curation, and production of artworks that use smart contracts in creative ways. The DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) collaborates with creators to build experiments at the intersection of art, economics and social coordination. Fingerprints has the 3rd largest collection of Autoglyphs, the largest collection of DEAFBEEFs, and one of the largest collection of Mutant Garden Seeders as well as other significant pieces. At Art Dubai Digital, they will present Certificates of Growth by terra0. 

HORIZONS is a partnership between acclaimed virtual platforms SO-FAR and AORA. At the heart of HORIZONS is a co-curated virtual gallery where one can explore significant exhibitions and NFT drops. Dedicated to bridging communities and building in the Web3 space with care, HORIZONS combines its virtual activity with a physical footprint through engaged art fairs, festivals, biennales and performing arts centres around the world. HORIZONS plans to include other key stakeholders in Web3, ReFi and the larger arts landscape, evolving into a DAO by January 2023, with a mission to pioneer new forms of interdisciplinary research, sustainable revenue streams and art x tech products in the metaverse and physical realms. At Art Dubai Digital they will present a major new installation, Nepenthe Velley by Lawrence Lek. 

Bright Moments is an NFT art gallery organized as a DAO whose primary NFT collection is the CryptoCitizens by Qian Qian – 10,000 unique NFTs minted in increments of 1,000 in different cities around the world and which will be displayed at Art Dubai Digital 2022. 

Dastan Gallery has evolved from Dastan’s Basement, which was established in Tehran in 2012 by Hormoz Hemetian. The gallery now consists of four different programs – Dastan: Outside, 

Dastan’s Basement, +2 Gallery, and Parallel Circuit, and aims to bring the full spectrum of Iranian contemporary art to the world. In 2021, they started working with NFTation.io in order to better assist artists in navigating the digital frontier and decentralized platforms. Exhibited artist: Yousha Bashir. 

Located in the historical district of Dolapdere in Istanbul, PILEVNELI Gallery is the realisation of Murat Pilevneli’s long-term ambition to create an exciting new addition to the contemporary art scene in Istanbul. The gallery encompasses a 1,500 square metre exhibition (Dolapdere) and a new space (Mecidiyeköy) in the city’s historic Liquor and Cognac Factory building. The gallery aims to bring stimulating worldviews to Istanbul by hosting international artists and presenting contemporary Turkish artists in a local and global context. For Art Dubai Digital 2022 they will present Machine Hallucinations: Floral Pigmentations by celebrated new media artist Refik Anadol. 

Founded in 1992, in Seoul, Keumsan Gallery has been a leader in developing relationships between artists, galleries, and collectors, not only in Korea, but across Asia. In November 2010 they opened a space in Hoehyeon-dong in Seoul, offering art marketing and consulting services. Exhibited artists: Joon Moon and Changkyum Kim. 

Founded by Tushar Jiwarajka in 2009, Volte Art Projects represents and works on projects with renowned and celebrated international contemporary artists and collectives including Sheba Chhachhi, Francesco Clemente, Wim Delvoye, Ranbir Kaleka, William Kentridge, Mario Klingemann, Nalini Malani, Humans since 1982, SMACK, James Turrell and Based Upon. Today, following a move to the UAE, it aims to become a leading gallery in the Middle East, foster and evoke an experiential and creative milieu within the contemporary art scene, by showing works that often blur the boundaries between art, design, science and technology. 

SANATORIUM has organised many exhibitions in its native Turkey and at an international level, evolving into a gallery. The gallery does not pursue a specific theoretical framework when choosing the artists, instead focusing on the consistency of the practice of the artists with which they collaborate, with an emphasis on critical thinking and experimentation. One of the main missions of the gallery is to serve as a platform that offers a space for intellectual approaches even if they might sometimes contradict each other. Exhibited artists: Sergen Şehitoğlu and Raghava KK.

NFT Asia is an open and inclusive community centred on uplifting Asian and Asia-based artists and creatives. Founded by a team of artists and arts workers working across the traditional and digital art worlds, they are focused on sharing resources, creating opportunities and fostering close connections, showcasing a diverse collection of art that is not only aesthetic but which also responds to the cultural zeitgeist. To create engagement and access to artists who are in different stages of their career especially those who are emerging talents. They are uniquely positioned to raise awareness by highlighting the underrepresented and presenting a diversity of art styles and themes within the community. Exhibited artists include: Rociel, Zenavi and Ninaad Kothwade. 

Originally founded in Istanbul, Anna Laudel Gallery opened a second space in Düsseldorf, Germany in 2019. both galleries host solo and group exhibitions by artists from Turkey and beyond. The gallery also represents its artists of diverse backgrounds and generations in the global arts scene. For Art Dubai Digital 2022, they will present works by Flóra Borsi and Sarp Kerem Yavuz. 

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. 

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. 

Created by celebrated film director, writer and artist Martha Fiennes, Yugen is a moving-image multi-media artwork that explores the boundaries of film, art, audio and AI technology. A pioneering union between actor and director in an artwork, the actor Salma Hayek Pinault is Fiennes’ muse and it is her character who dominates the screen as a leading visual presence in a visual and meditative exploration into perceptions of reality. With her production team headed by Peter Muggleston, and a hypnotic sound score written by the composer Magnus Fiennes, Martha Fiennes brings to her art substantial experience of filmmaking and visual effects technology to create dynamic works which are able to perpetually self-generate in a continuous, effectively infinite, non-predictable ‘random’ cycle. Utilises generative computer coding technologies to enable a continuous, self-selective visual display, each viewing enables a unique, non-linear, spontaneous experience which is liberated from any need to ‘loop’ or repeat. Her work has been shown at the V&A, National Gallery, Sotheby’s London and Paris, La Biennale di Venezia 2018 and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. 

COSMODREAMS, an immersive experience, is a journey into the extraordinary world conceived by Marina Fedorova in her new series of artworks. This interactive multimedia installation explores the effects of technological advancements on our lives and environment, muses on social adjustment and the legacy that the future generations will inherit from us. Complementing traditional art forms with digital technologies, the artist presents this experience through large-scale paintings, human-scale objects, augmented reality and virtual reality, interactive panels and a virtual art museum in space. 

An important component of Art Dubai’s extensive year-round programming, Campus Art Dubai (CAD) provides artists with educational and professional opportunities. CAD was the first program of its kind in the region and each year a special curriculum is designed around a pertinent theme, enabling CAD participants to explore the significance of local knowledge with individuals and institutions in the region through course material and a series of seminars, lectures, workshops and off-site visits. Sessions are led by academics, critics, curators and artists. Powered by Materia, Campus Art Dubai 9.0 Blockchain Edition is an 8-week program that began in January 2022, hosting 12 artists – six UAE-based and six international – with experience in the fields of photography, videography, visual art, animation, sound or new media art. The program culminates with participants creating their own NFT artwork which is shown in a dedicated display at Art Dubai 2022 and exhibited on Materia’s platform. 

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