Within less than a decade, the Art in UAE has gained global importance. However, the success of Art in UAE hinges on more than just the government funds. The central location of Dubai being almost equidistant to the important cities of not just Asia and also of Europe and Africa, has supported the success of many art ventures here.
Until the recent past, the United Arab Emirates appeared to be an unlikely place that would develop into a regional hub for the unique art. The country is surrounded by neighbors with a long history in this field including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iran. All these countries stand out as the major contenders of the title. The reasons for growing expansion and importance of the art in this region are many. One answer that springs to the mind is petro dollars, which shows that the relationship between the art gallery and money is old and also an inevitable one. The importance of money and its patronage for the creation of art may thus be a phenomenon of merely the market forces.
The significant growth of the Arab artistic output throughout UAE depends on the need felt by the Arab artists to respond to the realities around themselves including the political, social and economic conditions. This coincided with the end of modernism in the 1970s and led to the deconstruction of the domination of Western art and cultural practices. Due to this, the international curiosity concerning the Middle East and North Africa increased and assisted to give rise to the Arab artists through galleries like Cross Borders Art who allowed these artists to become inadvertent spokespersons for their culture. Such a situation favored the two sides of the economic equation, the supply and demand of art in UAE and let the art flourish in this region.
It is indeed around art which makes the system grow to create its value and come to the market and that without the artists and their creative production, there can be no art. So Cross Borders Art is one such platform making its best effort to nurture art in the UAE region.