With the Gulf states emerging as a new powerhouse of contemporary art, Fadda can claim, over the past decade, to have played a key role in laying the foundations. While the big bucks spent on commissioning and acquiring art from the Western hemisphere often attracts more attention, the director of the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi, who also oversees the cultural output of UAE venues Manarat Al Saadiyat, Bait Al Oud and Berklee Abu Dhabi, has been tireless in promoting and offering a platform for art from the region and the Middle East more generally. Last year saw her curate the Saudi Arabia Pavilion in Venice, as well as cocurating the inaugural Desert X in AlUla. Prior to that, and in addition to curating numerous solo and group exhibitions, Fadda played a key role in the development of the Guggenheim’s preparations for its new outpost in Abu Dhabi, as well as organising programmes for the Sharjah and Marrakech biennials. Up next, she will cocurate the inaugural Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial and the Manar Abu Dhabi Light Festival, which aim, in part, at creating new audiences for art in the UAE.
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Power 100
Most influential people in 2023 in the contemporary artworld
57
Reem Fadda
Curator - Director of the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi offering a platform for art from the Middle East
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