What Dubai needs now is a world-class art gallery

Indeed, the starting point for a very fine small art collection for Dubai would be the acquisition of all the works on exhibit at The Masters show this week, which drew gasps of astonishment from the society of Dubai.

The show at the One&Only Royal Mirage Palace includes paintings by the Dutch Old Masters, English giants like Stubbs and Gainsborough, a Picasso sculpture of a woman's head, many fine Tiffany lamps, two small Van Goghs, remarkable art deco sculptures and the $25 million Baroda carpet made of 1.3 million pearls originally commissioned for the Tomb of the Prophet Mohammad but never delivered to the holy city.

Such an eclectic mixture of works of art would be the right combination for a collection reflecting the multi-cultural roots and world-class aspirations of modern Dubai. Of course, there would be plenty of room for additions to the collection, particularly in the field of Islamic art.

Regional hubs and art

For it is something of an anomaly that a city the size of Dubai does not have an art gallery. In the UK a tiny place like St Ives in Cornwall has a branch of the Tate Gallery, and even cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong have belatedly founded galleries in the past decade; and Singapore has its relatively new Asian Civilization cultural institution.

Dubai with its commercial good sense and world-class aspirations ought to join this exclusive club. The cost of endowing a decent art gallery would be less than the cost of a few towers in the Dubai Marina, and provide a focal point for the high-end cultural life of the city. It would also be a significant tourist attraction, and be the only major modern art gallery in the Middle East.

Cultural calling

The Masters exhibition - where all the works are for sale with price tags of $1 million upwards - demonstrates that it is possible to assemble a really attractive collection of major art works. Will the Dubai Cultural Council now take the initiative and find a formula to make this a permanent feature of the city?

Surely Dubai has to look no further than its multinational corporations and the increasing number of global financial institutions setting up in Dubai for support. All the major art galleries of the world benefit from the generosity of corporate sponsors and individuals who leave their art treasures as a legacy to the nation.

Perhaps Dubai should enlist the help of one of the world's major institutions to draw up the most appropriate business plan to establish a modern art gallery in the city, confirming its status as a regional hub for cultural as well as commercial life.