Dubai will move ahead with two cultural projects that were announced in 2008, but put on hold in the wake of the global economic collapse of that year, which hit fast-growing Dubai especially hard. According to a report by the AFP, officials recently said that the city will proceed on its plans for a modern art museum and an opera house. Read More

Despite rumbles of economic trouble in Dubai, the art infrastructure in the Middle Eastern emirate is experiencing a dramatic expansion. Last week, the Financial Times noted that decreasing rents were encouraging new art dealers to open galleries there, and now The National reports that the Alserkal Avenue at Al Quoz industrial area, “the UAE’s answer to New York’s West Chelsea and London’s Hoxton,” will double in size. (The area is currently home to galleries like Carbon 12 and the Green Art Gallery.) Read More