Art Dubai, a DIFC subsidiary (March 19-22, 2008) and the FIAC (October 18-22, 2007) have just announced that they will collaborate on a joint project under the title of PARIS-DUBAI, to be hosted by Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum in March 2008 and at FIAC’s Parcours Privée in October 2008.
The Global Art Forum was launched last March and brought together 40 of the art-worlds top personalities for three days of discussion; raising a number of topical issues including, the Next 10 years of Contemporary Art in the Middle East and Branding Cities through Culture. It also featured a series of interviews with artists from both East and West, including Wim Delvoye, Jan Fabre, Kader Attia and Hassan Khan.
This October the FIAC will welcome Art Dubai to Paris, to join the FIAC’s Parcours Privée program, for the launch of the 1st edition of the Global Art Forum Transcripts publication, on October 17th at the Institut du Monde Arabe. Art Dubai will collaborate with the FIAC, next March in Dubai, to organize a special program for the Global Art Forum, PARIS-DUBAI, bringing together a number of artists and intellectuals from throughout the Middle East and who have had long-standing links with France, and notably Paris. In October 2008, FIAC will host Part two of this ongoing series of encounters.
Paris is a world metropolis for the arts and like other great post-colonialist centres it has not only thrived upon the vitality and diversity of cultures that it brings together, but has also served as an inspiration. It has long captured the imagination as both the subject and workplace for many artists and intellectuals from and close to the Middle East.
Over its 34-year history as the top art fair in France, the FIAC has grown through strategic collaborations with all the major contributors of the cultural scene in France. The PARIS-DUBAI project reflects a new sprit, bringing together two art fairs on the essential issues of art, through constructive dialogue. It will be the first in a series of projects between Art Dubai and the FIAC, encouraging ongoing creative collaboration between artists, curators, museum directors, collectors, academics and intellectuals from East and West.
About the DIFC:
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is an onshore hub for global finance. It bridges the time gap between the financial centers of Hong Kong and London and services a region with the largest untapped emerging market for financial services.
In just under two years, over 400 firms have registered at the DIFC. They operate in an open environment complemented with world-class regulations and standards. The DIFC offers its member institutions incentives such as 100 per cent foreign ownership, zero tax on income and profits and no restrictions on foreign exchange. In addition their business benefits from modern infrastructure, operational support and business continuity facilities of uncompromisingly high standards.
The DIFC is made up of the following core bodies:
1. The DIFC Authority (DIFCA) - Responsible for the Companies and Security Registries and attracting financial as well as non-financial institutions to set up in the DIFC. The DIFC Authority is also responsible for developing the financial services industry. (www.difc.ae)
2. The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) - An independent, unitary regulatory authority, responsible for the regulation of all DIFC operations. Its principle-based primary legislation is modeled on that used in London and New York and its regulatory regime operates to standards that meet or exceed those in major financial centers. (www.dfsa.ae)
3. The DIFC Courts - An independent court system set up to uphold the provisions of DIFC laws and regulations, the courts provide comprehensive legal redress in civil and commercial matters within the DIFC. The DIFC Courts system is especially designed to deal with all of sophisticated transactions that will be conducted within DIFC. The DIFC Court laws, based on the common law, not only sets out the jurisdiction of the court but also provides for a dispute resolution services, including arbitration and mediation, thus allowing for the independent administration of justice in the DIFC. ( www.difccourts.ae)
DIFC Investments- The creation of DIFC Investments will result in the allocation to it of all non public administration activities previously carried out by DIFC Authority. This will include amongst other things all commercial and other activities such as the operation and management of any current and future subsidiaries, the development of the centre's investment strategy and relevant policies and any other strategic investments or alliances which will further the goals and objectives of the Dubai International Financial Centre and contribute to the fulfillment of the Centre's vision. Some of the companies and organizations that DIFC Investments owns include:
1. The Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) The DIFX is the region's first international financial exchange for equities, bonds, Islamic products, funds, index products and (subject to regulatory approval) derivatives. The target areas of the DIFX for seeking issuers include the Middle East and North Africa, as well as South Africa, Turkey and the Indian sub-continent. The regulator of the DIFX is the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The DIFX is located in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and its owner is the DIFC Authority. (www.difx.ae)
2. Hawkamah- the first Institute for Corporate Governance in the region, has been established in partnership with a group of international institutions, including the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry, Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Union of Arab Banks (UAB), Dubai School of Government (DSG), Young Arab Leaders (YAL), and the Institute of Management Development (IMD). (www.hawkamah.org) .
About FIAC
The 34th edition of the FIAC, the modern and contemporary art fair, will be held from October 18th through 22nd in the Grand Palais, the Louvre’s Cour Carrée and the jardin des Tuileries, in Paris.
Continuing the strategy of change begun in 2004, FIAC 2007 is characterized by a consolidation of their position, renewed strength and a desire to improve the quality of the offer in all areas of the fair. The commitment to the FIAC’s identity as a general interest fair can be seen in the establishment of a balance which is both historical – between modern, contemporary and emerging trends and design – and geographical. Among the 179 exhibitors from 23 countries, FIAC has created a balance between the French context, with 76 French galleries (42%), and international scenes with 103 foreign galleries (58%). The reaffirmation of the fair’s commitment is also reflected through the long-term establishment in exceptional venues, the Grand Palais, the Louvre’s Cour Carrée and the Jardin des Tuileries; the proposal of an itinary that includes the city and which led more than 90% of the visitors in 2006 to visit both sites, to stay longer
(average visit one day more for more than half of the visitors) and to return several times (thanks to the tickening system); and last but not least, the perpetual desire to federate the vitality of the Parisian art scene, once again in full force this October 2007.
