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Abu Dhabi Art Fair Reveals Details of its 14th Edition

Visitors at Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2017 - File Photon/AAWSAT
Visitors at Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2017 - File Photon/AAWSAT
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Abu Dhabi Art Fair Reveals Details of its 14th Edition

Visitors at Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2017 - File Photon/AAWSAT
Visitors at Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2017 - File Photon/AAWSAT

Abu Dhabi Art has announced its 14th edition which will feature a record-breaking 78 galleries from 27 countries, including Italy, Colombia, South Korea, Denmark and India.

The annual November art fair is the culmination of Abu Dhabi Art’s year-round visual arts program.

This year’s sector guest curators and collaborators for galleries at the fair include art historian Rachida Triki, gallerist Jade Yeşim Turanlı, and arts journalist Riccarda Mandrini.

Taking place from 16th to 20th November at Manarat Al Saadiyat, the 14th edition of the fair will highlight artists from North Africa, Turkey and the wider region.

Abu Dhabi Art has also invited art historian, Professor of Philosophy, and curator Triki to be the guest curator of this year’s Focus section under the theme New Tomorrows. The section will spotlight galleries and artists from North Africa and explore the artistic evolution of the region.

Abu Dhabi Art has appointed gallerist Turanlı of Pi Artworks and journalist Mandrini as guest curators for the fair, each bringing in a number of new galleries, state news agency WAM reported.

Turanlı will focus on galleries and artists from Turkey including first time exhibitors Dirimart and Galeri Nev İstanbul while Mandrini will bring together galleries from around the world with diverse programs including galleries Mazzoleni, P420 and Dep Art Gallery.

Dyala Nusseibeh, Director, Abu Dhabi Art, said: "Since the first fair in 2007, Abu Dhabi Art has played an integral role in the art eco-system in Abu Dhabi and the wider emirates, fueling the appetite for art in the region. Over the years, we have not only succeeded in bolstering the growth of the country’s cultural and creative industries but also in nurturing homegrown talent."

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Australia Moves to Ban Children Under 16 from Social Media

Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
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Australia Moves to Ban Children Under 16 from Social Media

Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File
Australia's government says unchecked social media algorithms are serving up disturbing content to highly impressionable children and teenagers. JOEL SAGET / AFP/File

Australia's prime minister on Thursday vowed to ban children under 16 from social media, saying the pervasive influence of platforms like Facebook and TikTok was "doing real harm to our kids".
The tech giants would be held responsible for enforcing the age limit and face hefty fines if regulators notice young users slipping through the cracks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world's strictest measures aimed at children, AFP said.
"This one is for the mums and dads. Social media is doing real harm to kids and I'm calling time on it," Albanese told reporters outside parliament.
The new laws would be presented to state and territory leaders this week, before being introduced to parliament in late November.
Once passed, the tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban.
"The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access," Albanese said, explaining what he dubbed a "world-leading" reform.
"The onus won't be on parents or young people."
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it would "respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce".
But Antigone Davis, Meta's head of safety, said Australia should think carefully about how these restrictions were implemented.
She said poorly drafted laws "risk making ourselves feel better, like we have taken action, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place".
Snapchat pointed to a statement from industry body DIGI, which warned that a ban could stop teenagers from accessing "mental health support".
"Swimming has risks, but we don't ban young people from the beach, we teach them to swim between the flags," a DIGI spokeswoman said.
TikTok said it had nothing to add at this stage.
'Falling short'
Once celebrated as a means of staying connected and informed, social media platforms have been tarnished by cyberbullying, the spread of illegal content, and election-meddling claims.
"I get things popping up on my system that I don't want to see. Let alone a vulnerable 14-year-old," Albanese said.
"Young women see images of particular body shapes that have a real impact."
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said social media companies were repeatedly "falling short" in their obligations.
"Social media companies have been put on notice. They need to ensure their practices are made safer," she told reporters at a press briefing alongside Albanese.
Rowland said companies like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Elon Musk's X would face financial penalties if they flouted the laws.
While Rowland did not detail how big these would be, she suggested fines of US$600,000 (Aus $1 million) were well below the mark for companies boasting yearly revenues in the tens of billions of dollars.
Analysts have expressed doubt it would be technically feasible to enforce a strict age ban.
"We already know that present age verification methods are unreliable, too easy to circumvent, or risk user privacy," University of Melbourne researcher Toby Murray said earlier this year.
A series of exemptions would be hashed out for platforms such as YouTube that teenagers may need to use for school work or other reasons.
Australia has in recent years ramped up efforts to regulate the tech giants, with mixed success.
A "combating misinformation" bill was introduced earlier this year, outlining sweeping powers to fine tech companies for breaching online safety obligations.
It has also moved to outlaw the sharing of so-called "deepfake" pornography without consent.
But attempts to regulate content on Musk's X -- previously known as Twitter -- have become bogged down in a long-running courtroom battle.
The tech mogul likened the Australian government to "fascists" earlier this year after they announced they would crack down on fake news.
Several other countries have been tightening children's access to social media platforms.
Spain passed a law in June banning social media access to under-16s.
But in both cases the age verification method has yet to be determined.
France passed laws in 2023 that require social media platforms to verify users' ages -- and obtain parental consent if they are younger than 15.
China has restricted access for minors since 2021, with under-14s not allowed to spend more than 40 minutes a day on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
Online gaming time for children is also limited in China.