East Asian Gallery Shakes Up Dubai Art Scene
The United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai, represents a lucrative financial market. Yet, the region is increasingly becoming a hotspot for art enthusiasts. Recently, the first gallery established by Chinese founders opened its doors.
Art galleries in Dubai are usually founded and run by Emiratis who put Islamic calligraphy effectively into the spotlight.
Another group is foreign creatives with a lot of faith in themselves as the market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is regarded as event-driven, narrow, and therefore quite competitive.
Creative Silkroad
Samia Art, however, and although by her name not an East Asian outlet at first glance, was founded by wealthy Chinese investors.
This marks a first in the sheikhdom, although China has been the UAE’s biggest trade partner for over a decade as a staunch supporter of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, and 350,000 Chinese nationals live in the Gulf state (10.5 million inhabitants).
«The founding members of Samia Art saw an opportunity and a market for aficionados who are keen on investing in modern art,» Nicole Lin told finews.com at the recently held art nights, organised by the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC).
Samia Art an der DIFC Art Nights; zweiter von rechts ist der Künstler Tian Yemin. (Bild: finews.com)
Under the slogan «Art with us» and on the latter occasion and to promote its ongoing exhibition at their showroom in Dubai’s Al-Quoz district, Samia Art has won Chinese painter and sculptor Tian Yuemin.
Common Eastern Grounds
When asked about his cat-sized sculptures of horses, Tian, whose birthplace is in the Shandong Province, said, «Arabs love horses. They are part of the oriental culture.»
Tian also exhibited in early April at the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest annual horse race. «This was a very successful promotion; we drew a lot of attention and sold scores of Tian’s sculptures.»
The Journey Continues
His breakthrough Tian achieved in 2014 when Hong Kong’s Jie He auction house sold one of his statues for 1 million Chinese yuan ($151,000 at that time) to a collector.
The journey continues, «We look forward to exhibiting at the Abu Dhabi Art Week in November this year,» said Lin.
