Hot And Getting Hotter: Islamic Contemporary On The Block At Christie’s Dubai

ARTINFO | BLOUIN

Lalla Essaydi, Harem 16, 2009 (c. Christie's)

DUBAI---Tonight and tomorrow, Christie’s Dubai will hold its Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian,and Turkish art sales, featuring some of the stars of the region including Charles Hussein Zenderoudi, Shirin Neshat, Lalla Essaydi, and Farhad Moshiri, along with modern masters Mahmoud Said, Louay Kayyali and Paul Guiragossian. “About thirty pecent of the Dubai sales are bought by non-Middle Eastern clients globally – in London, the US, and elsewhere,” Christie’s specialist for this sale, Michael Jeha said, “and also from institutions: Tate, MoCA, the Met.” More artists are emerging, as well, particularly coming out of Saudi, according to Jeha, and from Egypt. “I think the whole region in the next five to ten years will show a stronger awareness and appetite for art from collectors,” Jeha told me, “and an increase in the quality of art – the whole package.”[link]