“The citizens of the United Arab Emirates do not enjoy a vote,” you open your ever-so-gentle article about art in the Middle East, “but they relish a bit of artistic agitation” (“Foment the Moment,” March 26, 2011). Nicely put. Kader Attia’s neon piece at the Sharjah Biennial, spelling “Demoncracy,” from the private collection of Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi, is a perfect example of agitation of this ilk. The Biennial is part of the sprawling Art Dubai fair, where “political art” is all the rage. As you put it, there is more of it than at the Basel Art Fair or Venice Biennale, and some of it is quite strident. “Contemporary artists around the world insist on their independence and their right to free speech,” you explain. I wonder. Political art in the Emirates is about political titillation of the mighty, instead. Many of the artists on show come from the princely families themselves. Having been educated at European or American art schools, they know which side the bread is buttered, though. Rather than independence and free speech, this is the real origin of the ambiguity of Attia’s neon installation, as well as the bulk of political art in the Emirates.