Christie’s Middle East has announced the launch of the inaugural Christie’s Art+Tech Summit in Dubai on March 2, taking place at Art Dubai 2023.

This will be the sixth iteration of the agenda-setting conference to be hosted by Christie’s, having previously taken place in New York, Hong Kong and London.

Christie’s Art+Tech Summit Dubai is supported by MoonPay, the leading Web 3 infrastructure, and TIME, the NFT art and web3 community initiative who are continuing their support from the Christies New York summit last year.

The focus of this year’s Art+Tech Summit is to explore the areas of AI, digital asset ownership, financial innovation and Blockchain, bringing together international creators and collectors from a spectrum of disciplines across art and technology, as well as leading regional expertise from the Middle East.

From Metaverse to Artificial Intelligence and FinTech innovations, summit attendees will have the opportunity to hear from and interact with innovators on the forefront of building and developing disruptive new products and businesses.

Speakers and sessions include:

• Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amirii, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of UAE Space Agency, will participate as a thought leader on new technologies and advanced innovation to represent the United Arab Emirates at the inaugural iteration of the summit.

• Mudassir Sheikha, CEO and Co-Founder of Careem. Mudassir co-founded Careem in 2012 and today, it is the leading technology platform for the region, operating in more than 98 cities in 10 countries, with 1400+ colleagues and more than two million Captains (drivers)

• Amir ‘Mondoir’ Soleymani, a well-renowned and respected UAE based collector, gallerist, and owner of Adelia Art Gallery. Amir is a forerunner of the digital art space, and has played an indisputable role in nurturing and raising the NFT (non-fungible token) space to its present level of awareness in the Middle East. Amir will address ‘Building Trust in the Future’

• Yayoi Shionoiri, Executive Director of Chris Burden Estate and Nancy Rubins Studio is an art lawyer responsible for stewarding Burden’s art historical legacy and promoting Rubins’ artistic practice supporting artists

• Shashi Menon, Founder and CEO, Nevora will discuss how brands are participating in the metaverse

• Leading creative and curatorial art voices participating include ThankYouX & Lukas Amacher of 1of1. ThankYouX began his artistic journey on the streets of Los Angeles in spray painting stencils in homage to Andy Warhol. His unique aesthetic has captured the attention of the art world and earned international acclaim. ThankYouX & Lukas will shed light on ‘The Evolving role of Technology in the lives of Artists’

• Dr Ridha Moumni, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Middle East will discuss ‘Recent Innovations and Developments in the Art Market’, while Devang Thakkar, Global Head of Christie’s Ventures and Art+Tech will discuss ‘Art and Tech: The Cycle of Innovation’

Devang Thakkar, Global Head of Christie’s Ventures and Art+Tech comments: "Given the vibrancy and innovation coming out of the Gulf States, and from the UAE within this sector, we are excited to bring the Art and Tech Summit to Dubai. The Summit will enable industry innovators in both sectors to engage in meaningful debate and discussion around future innovation and to spend invaluable time with the pioneers here. We look forward to a productive summit that leads to meaningful collaboration."

Meagan Kelly Horsman, Managing Director, Christie’s Middle East, comments: "Christie’s is honoured to bring the Art+Tech Summit to Dubai for the first time as part of the Art Dubai 2023 programme. Christie’s has led the conversation in the Art and Tech space since 2018 when the first summit took place in London, bringing together global leaders from the art and the technology sectors. The UAE is very much at the forefront of adopting breakthrough innovation in the tech industry and the participation of regional leaders in this sector is a great source of pride to the UAE and Christie’s Middle East."