In late November, the international art community gathered at the 16th edition of Abu Dhabi Art, where more than 90 art galleries from around 30 countries participated. Fairgoers felt positive about the event, praising its liveliness and noticeable diversity in artistic offering. As always, there was a rich showcase of contemporary and modern works, varying in mediums, by artists from the Arab world and its diaspora communities.
In particular, Syrian art, produced by emerging and established artists, had a surprisingly strong presence too. Though in Syria there has famously been artistic production, including contemporary visual arts, since time immemorial, it tends to be underrepresented in the global art scene. Delving into abstraction, figuration, still life and landscape art, their humane
works often reflect the difficulties they endured as a people impacted by political instability in recent history.