Oil, pearls and roundabouts: shaping Dubai for tomorrow

The tenth edition of the Global Art Forum (GAF), the art conference that runs in association with Art Dubai—the dynamic, commercial art event that takes place in March in the Gulf—also reflects local life and cultural production best. Entitled The Future Was, this year’s GAF was compiled by Bangladeshi-born, UK-raised writer Shumon Basar and is co-directed by Amal Khalaf and Uzma Rizvi. All are based outside Dubai but have strong regional associations: Basar has been associate