Another artist whose work was widely appreciated at the fair was photographer, calligrapher and painter Ahmed Mater, whose monumental photographs document the change that is taking place in the holy city of Mecca. In his ongoing project, “The Desert of Pharan”, the artist is concerned about how construction is altering the landscape of Mecca.

Athr Gallery founder Hamza Serafi opened an assured and confident exhibition of works devoted to the power of the written word, Pen to Paper.
One of the pioneers of the Jeddah gallery scene, Mr Serafi maintains his position as pre-eminent arts impresario in the rapidly developing market.
"Art is a globalised industry," he says. "By having Sotheby's here we are raising the price that Saudi art can command. So we are effectively allowing artists to devote themselves full time to their work."
Mr Serafi went on to say that while the art week was a turning point it was also the culmination of years of hard work and Saudi sponsorship.

One of the pioneers of the Jeddah gallery scene, Mr Serafi maintains his position as pre-eminent arts impresario in the rapidly developing market. "Art is a globalised industry," he says. "By having Sotheby's here we are raising the price that Saudi art can command. So we are effectively allowing artists to devote themselves full time to their work." Mr Serafi went on to say that while the art week was a turning point it was also the culmination of years of hard work and Saudi sponsorship.

In its seventh edition this year, Art Dubai hosted 75 galleries from 30 different countries showcasing the creative and artistic work of 500 artists. Saudi Arabia was represented by Athr Gallery.

Over in another biennial venue, an abandoned building once used by the Sharjah Islamic Bank, I was taken aback by the number of works that critique aspects of Middle Eastern society. Sarah Abu Abdallah’s ‘Saudi Automobile’ mixed-media installation, 2011, takes a swipe at Saudi Arabia’s medieval law banning women drivers. Ahmed Mater’s 2012 photography series “Desert of Pharan/Room with a View”, depicting the rampant redevelopment around Mecca, is exceptional.

A Saudi collector bought an edition of a photograph from Ahmed Mater’s 2012 series “Desert of Pharan/Adam”, which caused a stir by depicting the rampant redevelopment around Mecca. The Saudi gallery Athr said that demand was high for Mater's supersized photographs of the cranes and construction work threatening to overwhelm Islam's holiest site. All three editions of the large-scale images ( Artificial Light and Golden Hour , both 2012) had sold with the final edition of each work priced at $49,000.

The Saudi-based Athr Gallery is showing the work of Ahmed Mater, supersized aerial photographs of the fast-developing area around Mecca and a critique, Mater says, of overzealous planning. The pictures, all cranes and busyness, give little sense of the place’s spiritual significance. The artist points to the Grand Mosque in the centre of the picture. “This is the only thing I respect,” he says. “Not all this,” waving at the cranes. Ideally, Mater wants to show the photographs in Mecca itself. But to show them in Dubai is “testing the waters. I want to hear what thinkers, what intellectuals, think [about the issues].”
The gallery’s founder, Hamza Serafi, is more equivocal about the themes raised by Mater’s photographs. “Artists always have strong statements to make,” he says. “Some people see this as a disturbing image. But these changes are also allowing an extra 1m people to come [to Mecca].” Serafi says the art he likes to display is that which opens up issues for discussion.

Belgian collector Guy Ullens was in a spending mood at Dubai this year. Ullens went on a $1m spree to acquire Middle Eastern artists, buying Ahmad Mater at Athr gallery, Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh at Isabelle van den Eynde and Pascale Martine Tayou at Continua. He also reserved Ahmed Moualla's 12-metre long “Power and People” (2011), an apocalyptic scene that references the Arab Spring, for $300,000 at Atassi Gallery.