DUBAI: Abu Dhabi Art is set to kick off on Wednesday with a lineup of exhibitions, artist talks and workshops at the Manarat Al-Saadiyat arts hub in the UAE’s capital.

This year, 46 galleries will take part across multiple sections, including a “Modern and Contemporary” exhibit and a “Special Projects” area featuring solo or two-artist shows.

The annual performing arts program “Durub Al-Tawaya” will also kick off during the fair, with this year’s theme being “Technology.”

Set to run until January, this edition of “Durub Al-Tawaya” was curated by Tarek Abou El-Fetouh and investigates technology as a fundamental force in the development and evolution of art.

Meanwhile, a series of talks, organized by NYU Abu Dhabi’s Salwa Mikdadi and the University of North Texas’s Nada Shabout, this year explores the theme “Global Circulation of Art and The New Markets.”

The three days of panel discussions will examine the role of the art market in transforming the relationship between artists, curators and art institutions, as well as the rise of corporate and private museum and foundation collections. Regional and international experts will discuss issues such as art fraud, the restitution of looted art and artifacts and the challenge of moving art across borders in conflict-afflicted regions.

The “Beyond: Emerging Artists” initiative, which aims to provide three emerging artists in the UAE with a platform to develop their practice, was curated by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and highlights the work of artists Ahmed Saeed Al-Areef Al-Dhaheri, Taqwa Al-Naqbi and Dhabiya Al-Rumaithi.

The fair’s annual “Gateway” exhibition highlights artists through a unique curatorial perspective, with this year’s theme announced as “Structures of Meaning: Architectures of Perception.” The exhibit will invite visitors to consider artworks as structures through which 14 artists experience and interpret the world.