Christopher Lord's closing report on Art Dubai 2012 for The National recalls the media storm after works were removed from our booth, when the gallery was called Artspace and based in DIFC.
Lord sums up the sixth edition of the fair through Deniz Uster's wooden wind tower on the canals of Madinat Jumeirah, whose drum kept time for an estimated 22,000 visitors. He describes performances, a busy Global Art Forum, strong sales at the vernissage and newcomers such as The Pace Gallery from London, and quotes fair director Antonia Carver on building links beyond the Middle East and South Asia.
Within that round up he returns to the story of the week. Works by two artists were taken off our booth after security officers raised concerns, among them After Washing by the Palestinian artist Shadi Alzaqzouq, which shows a masked female protester holding up a pair of men's briefs with the Arabic word for "leave", a chant heard in Tahrir Square. Sossy Dikijian, then the gallery's co director, told the paper she thought it was more a matter of decency than anything political. Lord adds that two other Dubai galleries were also asked to remove works.
Read with The National's report of 23 March 2012, the piece shows how the gallery's presentation became one of the talking points of that year's fair.