Dubai

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Museum of the Future Confirms Closing Date for Current Exhibitions, With New Experiences Due in Early 2027

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.

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Emaar Reopens Burj Khalifa Open Call, Inviting Artists Worldwide to Light Up the World's Tallest Building

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.

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Six Landmark Cultural Projects Set to Reshape the UAE's Museum and Performing Arts Scene

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.

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Museum of the Future Opens Global Call for Ideas Ahead of Fifth Anniversary

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.

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Opening a Gallery in Dubai: What It Actually Takes

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.

Editorial

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

The Pioneers of Emirati Art: Hassan Sharif and After

How 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.

Editorial

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Inside Alserkal Avenue: A Guide to Dubai's Art District

How 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.

Editorial

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

The Civilisation That Bought Itself Back: A Field Guide to Collecting Arab Art

A 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

Editorial

Doha · Qatar

Somewhere Between a Marble Factory and a Masterpiece

On the art world's transparency problem, the extraordinary markets the world is only beginning to discover, and why we decided to build a map.

February 2026, Doha. Msheireb Downtown — the old business district that Qatar has been quietly transforming into something between a cultural quarter and an ur…

Editorial

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

World Art Dubai 2026: Dates, Curators and What to Expect at Expo City

The fair's 12th edition moves to a new venue, introduces a dedicated photography section and expands its mentorship programme — here is everything you need to know.

World Art Dubai returns for its 12th edition from 19 to 22 November 2026, this time at a new home — Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City. With over 10,000 works from 65 countries, a new dedicated photography section and an expanded mentorship programme, here is everything galleries and collectors need to know.

Editorial

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

Arab Modernism 101: The Movement That Western Art History Forgot

An entire century of extraordinary painting, sculpture and radical thinking got written out of the global canon. Someone made that decision. And now the market — and the collectors who pay attention — are making a different one.

Great art does not become invisible by accident. Arab Modernism reveals how museums, markets and cultural institutions shape what the world sees — and what it overlooks. A story about artists, recognition and the blind spots that define art history.

Editorial

Dubai · United Arab Emirates

UAE Galleries Keep Summer Alive With a Packed Exhibition Season

Galleries across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah are keeping their doors open through the summer months — with seven exhibitions running well into September.

From Abu Dhabi's Cultural Foundation to Sharjah's arts district, galleries and cultural institutions across the UAE have mapped out an ambitious summer programme that runs well into September — defying the region's traditionally quieter months.