The first-ever Dubai Photo Exhibition, which will take place from March 16 to 19 at the Dubai Design District (d3), is set to wow visitors with more than 700 artworks from 23 countries.
The major exhibition, which will be held in a purpose-built temporary museum in d3, will bring together 18 curators from different regions across the world. It will be an "an unprecedented photography platform of this scale," according to Dubai Photo Exhibition's official website .
The exhibition will visually present the evolution of global photography through showcasing a variety of "museum-quality" 20th and 21st century works from the different corners of the globe.
Each curator will present the most significant photography works from their region in a special gallery dedicated to their country and its selected photographers.
The countries displaying their photography talents include Australia, Brazil, China, Korea, Hungary, Spain, Holland, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. As for regional countries participating; Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco will be participating with their own galleries.
The aim of the inaugural exhibition, which is supported by the prestigious World Photography Organization, is to nurture discourse on photography from a global perspective, "casting a light on the influences that define this art form, in one location, in a single moment."
The Dubai Photo Exhibition is organized by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum International Photography Award, a renowned photography competition now in its fifth year, which was founded by Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed, the crown prince of Dubai.
The event, like the competition, is meant to establish Dubai as a key player in the global photography scene by creating a meeting point for the world's top photography professionals and institutions, as well as raise the profile of photography in the UAE and the wider Gulf.
Among the highlights of the first edition is a special exhibition tiled "A Glimpse of the Past," displaying the private photography collection of Prince Hamdan for the first time ever.
The rare photographs in the crown prince's collection show the UAE at several key points in its history, including the Trucial states of the 1960s and post-Union 1970s when the UAE was officially formed. They also show several aspects of the nation's cultural heritage.
"When exploring these historic photographs, one is easily taken on a journey through time to relive a magical era when traditions and values were strong and the people lived simple yet beautiful lifestyles," read Dubai Photo Exhibition's press release .
One photo from the collection shows the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, the father of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, speaking to a journalist about his grand aspirations and projects for the city of Dubai.