EditorialHow the Liwa desert — the Empty Quarter's northern edge, and the real Arrakis — became one of the most filmed, least understood landscapes on Earth.
Denis Villeneuve filmed Dune in Liwa, on the rim of the Rub' al Khali — the largest sand sea on the planet. A desert that has been an ocean, birthed a nation, and is only now being discovered as a subject for art.
Dubai's landmark institution will run its present galleries until mid-September before beginning work on a new generation of experiences, shaped by over 1,000 public submissions and timed to its fifth anniversary.
Dubai's Museum of the Future has confirmed that its current exhibitions will remain open to visitors until mid-September 2026, after which the institution will close for redevelopment ahead of a new generation of experiences due in the first quarter of 2027 — timed to mark its fifth anniversary.
This year's projection design competition drops the AED 100,000 cash prize of 2025 in favour of a longer, fully global submission window — and rules out any AI-generated entries.
Emaar has reopened its Burj Khalifa Open Call, inviting artists, designers and creatives from the UAE and around the world to submit original audio-visual projections for a chance to see their work displayed on the facade of the world's tallest building. Submissions close on 18 August 2026.
The second edition of the emirate-wide public art event opens in Al Ain in October and Abu Dhabi in November, led by former MACBA director Elvira Dyangani Ose under the theme "Home: A Glossary for a Communal Sense of Place."
The second edition of the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial opens in Al Ain on 23 October 2026 and in the capital on 15 November, running into February 2027. Curated by former MACBA director Elvira Dyangani Ose under the theme "Home: A Glossary for a Communal Sense of Place," the free, citywide programme builds on the acclaimed inaugural edition, several of whose works have since become permanent public installations.
At 421 Arts Campus, Emirati robotics engineer Dr Ahmad AlAttar turns the gallery into a field of sound and strings you have to play — his first institutional solo show, on until 13 September.
A field of coloured ropes hangs from the ceiling at 421 Arts Campus, each one wired to respond to touch with sound. Human in the Loop, the first institutional solo show by Emirati robotics engineer and artist Dr Ahmad AlAttar, turns the gallery into a game of hide-and-seek with an unseen algorithm — on until 13 September.
From a Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim on Saadiyat Island to a floating art museum on Dubai Creek, six major institutions are set to redraw the country's cultural map over the coming years.
The UAE's museum and performing arts landscape is entering one of its most ambitious build-out phases yet, with six major cultural institutions — spanning Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah — currently in development. From the long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi to a floating art museum on Dubai Creek, here is what is coming and when.
Chairman Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi says transformative ideas "may come from anyone, anywhere in the world" as Dubai's landmark institution invites public submissions for its next generation of experiences.
Dubai's Museum of the Future has launched an international open call inviting residents of the UAE and the public worldwide to submit ideas for its next generation of exhibitions, timed to coincide with the institution's approaching fifth anniversary.
This guide is the honest version of what it takes.
Opening a gallery in Dubai is easier to license and harder to sustain than most people expect. Here is the honest version — what the licence really costs, where to set up, how the consignment model works, what customs and the freeport change, and the market reality you are walking into in 2026.
EditorialHow Hassan Sharif and the artists known as "the Five" built conceptual art in the UAE from nothing
Before the Louvre came to Abu Dhabi and Alserkal filled with galleries, a small group of artists made conceptual art in the UAE with almost no audience and a great deal of ridicule. This is the story of Hassan Sharif and the pioneers who built a scene from nothing — and why their work still anchors Emirati art today.
EditorialThe Saadiyat Island museum announces a year-long programme that moves from ancient board games and Indian Ocean trade routes to conflict-zone heritage preservation and a first-ever GCC–India contemporary art prize.
Louvre Abu Dhabi has announced four major exhibitions for its 2026–2027 season, tracing a single curatorial thread — exchange, movement, and cultural resilience — across ancient board games, Indian Ocean maritime history, a landmark GCC–India contemporary art prize, and heritage preservation in conflict zones.
EditorialHow a row of Al Quoz warehouses became the most serious address in Gulf contemporary art — and how to navigate its galleries, foundations and programme.
Alserkal Avenue sits in Al Quoz Industrial Area 1 — a grid of concrete warehouses and marble workshops wedged between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road — and it is, improbably, the most culturally credible square kilometre in the Gulf.
EditorialA field guide to collecting Arab and Middle Eastern art — who buys, what it costs, why prices lag cultural significance, and where collectors are looking now.
How the Arab world went from selling its art history to the West to building the fastest-growing market for Middle Eastern art on earth — who buys, why, what it costs, and where the smart money is looking now
