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DUBAI: The Middle East’s largest annual contemporary art fair opened in Dubai on Friday against the backdrop of the Iran war, drawing fewer galleries and a more local crowd than usual.
This year, in its 20th edition, Art Dubai opened a month late and in a scaled-down format after the regional conflict forced the organisers to revise their plans.
“When the conflict broke out, we were only a few weeks out from the fair, and so we had to make a decision as to whether to go ahead” with the three-day event, its executive director Benedetta Ghione said.
“For us, the message is about resilience,” she added.
