Written by Gérard Al-Fil, Dubai

Art galleries in Dubai are usually founded and run by Emiratis who put Islamic caligraphy effectively into the spotlight.

Another group are foreign creatives with a lot of faith in themselves as the market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)  is regarded as event-driven, narrow, and therefore quite competitive. 

Creative Silkroad

Samia Art, however, and although by her name not an East Asian outlet at the first glance, was founded by wealthy Chinese investors.

This marks a first in the sheikhdom although China has been the UAE’s biggest trade partner for over a decade as a staunch supporter of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, and 350,000 Chinese nationals live in the Gulf state (10.5 million inhabitants).

«The founding members of Samia Art saw an opportunigty and a market for afiocionados who are keen on investing in modern art,» Nicole Lin told finews.com at the recently held art nights, organised by the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC). 

Samia Art an der DIFC Art Nights; zweiter von rechts ist der Künstler Tian Yemin. (Bild: finews.com)

Under the slogan «Art with us» and on the latter occasion and to promotore its ongoing exhibition at their showroom in Dubai’s Al-Quoz district, Samia Art has won Chinese painter and sculpturist Tian Yuemin.

Common Eastern Grounds

Asked what about his cat-sized sculptures of horses, Mr. Tian, whose birthplace is in the Shandong Province, said, «Arabs love horses. They are part of the oriental culture.»

Tian also exhibited in early April at the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest annual horse race. «This is was a very successul promtion, we drew a lot of attention and sold scores of Mr. Tian’s sculptures.» 

The Journey Continues

His breakthrough Tian achieved in 2014 when Hong Kong’s Jie He auction house sold one of his statues for 1 million Yuan (151,000 US-dollar at that time) to a collector. 

The journey continues, «We look forward to exhibiting at the Abu Dhabi Art Week in November this year,» said Ms Lin.