DUBAI: It was around the same time last year that Art Dubai had to cancel its physical event due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, going fully digital instead. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @arabnews.lifestyle Twelve months on, and the UAE event – recognized as the Middle East’s leading art fair for showcasing local, regional, and international artists – is back on the ground, with a new location and refreshed format. Scheduled to take place from March 29 to April 3, Art Dubai 2021 will be held at a purpose-built venue that will “ensure the highest COVID-19 safety protocols” at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Running in partnership with Dubai Culture, the fair will feature a total of 50 contemporary and modern galleries from 31 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, India, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. For those galleries unable to travel to the emirate due to the pandemic, Art Dubai’s new remote participation program will connect them digitally with fair visitors live during the event. Organizers have confirmed that the fair will be laid out in a way that ensures easy access and socially distanced movement throughout. “From the moment that you park your car and go through Gate Avenue (in DIFC) until you leave, you navigate the space and find different things depending on what you’re looking for,” said Pablo del Val, artistic director of Art Dubai. “It’s going to be clever, because it’s going to give the right amount of time for everyone to see everything without feeling that they are trapped in the main space.” On safety, del Val added that he was keen for visitors to stay responsible and to treat Art Dubai as a “cultural event” as opposed to a social one. “(I think we should) stop addressing culture as a place where you go to have fun, meet people, and make small talk. Let’s be more responsible. “We are an industry, and we have many people involved who live off what we do. It is not only the artists – who are the main focus – you have the galleries, the carpenters, the shippers, the installers. “There is an entire industry of people that has been suffering during this period of time. The entire art industry is a business in itself that needs opportunities to perform and to be alive. “So, I think it’s extremely important that we understand that we are not producing a social event. We are producing a cultural event. We are giving people the possibility of joining it in the most responsible way. “Truly, it has been a blessing to be able to do anything, and (much thought has been put into) every single procedure that we have applied to make it succeed,” he added.