Women who have brought a dash of panache to the Dubai art scene
“I don’t like to talk about ‘what if we do this or that’. I prefer to make projects happen,” says Claudia Cellini, 33 year-old curator and co-owner of Dubai’s contemporary art gallery The Third Line. Her 30-year-old business partner, Sunny Rahbar, agrees: “What I most enjoy is the speed at which things happen. It’s the newness of the Gulf – the energy here is very entrepreneurial because it’s an emerging market, somewhere where so much is yet to happen.”
Iranian-born, Dubai-raised Rahbar and Italian-American Cellini are two of the most influential protagonists in the city’s rapidly emerging art scene. Before they opened The Third Line in 2005, no other gallery offered such a vibrant programme of exhibitions, performances and films. The gallery added glamour and sparkle to a fairly dull arts scene, and provided a space for art lovers to socialise and to share their passion.
“The Third Line has made a real impact,” says Cellini. “Several of the artists we represent are rising to international acclaim and our own brand is becoming known outside of the region.”
“We have definitely been an integral part of the development of the art industry here,” concurs Rahbar, but she clarifies: “We haven’t been alone in doing this, but we have paved the way to some extent for other art businesses to set up.”
With a mission to provide a platform for contemporary Middle Eastern art, The Third Line has built its reputation with exhibitions that are intriguing, provocative and progressive. “We want people to see the Middle East in a different light,” says Rahbar. The gallery also hosts a film series, a literary circle and a children’s education programme, all of which are free and open to the general public. “I am really proud of what we have built,” Cellini says, “When we have an exhibition and people are emotionally moved, well, that’s what it’s all about for me.”
Lara Dunston & Terry Carter; portraits by T Carter |
