The INDEX International Design Exhibition 2012 returns from 24 - 27 September with more than 900 exhibitors from 45 countries. Returning for the second year as part of the INDEX Exhibition is the Artists' Avenue, an art gallery on the show floor which brings together business and art and showcases just how the art of business is easily achieved when you have the right platform.

Melissa O’Gorman, Project Manager of Index Exhibition explains, “Having worked with art groups in Europe and Asia and based now in Dubai for 10 years, I really understood the need for the opportunity for up and coming and established artists to get together with interior design professionals, art procurement managers, consumer and commercial art buyers. There is a gap in the interior design industry for art appreciation and a lack of places where the two can meet. We aspire to bridge that gap and take the business ‘headache’ out of uniting the two.”

Some of the Artists' Avenue participants this year include Gallery One (Dubai), Mondo Art Gallery (Dubai), Brownbook (Dubai publication), Judy Roberts (UK), Bernadette Taborda (France) and Abdulhadi Kadasa (Saudi Arabia).

Naqsh Design House participated in the 'Artists Avenue' in 2011 and they are returning again this year. Their work reflects modern oriental functional art using mixed media. Currently they are creating residential custom made solutions of artwork and functional art with wall units and exterior garden fence done with calligraphy engraved on metal.

“Being at Index last year opened new doors of new markets for us, and gave us a great exposure through new businesses. We were able to hold an art exhibition here in Dubai in collaboration with one of the local artist whom we have met at Index which was a great success.”, Nermeen Abu Dail, Naqsh Design House.

First time exhibitor, Judy Roberts who has lived in the Middle East for nearly 30 years described the art culture here in Dubai, “I think that the art culture in Dubai is developing well and feel that if it was more broadly based it would allow a level playing field for the wealth of multi-cultural talent available locally to exhibit more freely. I decided to join the Artists' Avenue at INDEX because I am hoping it will be a good platform as I wish to reach a wider customer base both in the project related market and also private clients who might wish to commission bespoke work. “

The Artists' Avenue is also proud to welcome world renowned artist, Abbas Al-Mosawi. He learned his craft first under the tutelage of the Bahraini artist, Ahmed Baqer. Later as a student in Cairo he was attracted to the impressionist style of Sabry Ragheb, whom he considers to this day to be the prince of painters. The sources for his work derive principally from the old souk of Manama and its surrounding villages. Given the irreversible changes of the urban and rural landscape his paintings provide the viewer with the necessary imaginative and aesthetic bridge to the past. Indeed such is the power of his native Bahrain on his artistic output that it colours both literally and figuratively his abstract paintings.

The Artists' Avenue will be held in in Hall No. 3 at INDEX International Design Exhibition, Dubai World Trade Centre between 24 - 27 September. Click here to register Free of Charge http://www.indexexhibition.com/page.cfm/link=255 and for more information on INDEX Exhibition please visit www.indexexhibition.com