Issue 01

Art Mapping the region*

(*This is not an
exhaustive listing.)

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UAE

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‍Dubai

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A port city, with a long history on the silk and trade routes, renowned for its dynamism, diversity and mercantile ambition, Dubai has emerged as the main art marketplace in the UAE. As the trade and finance infrastructures of the city developed, the art market grew in parallel. The first galleries to open were those led by regionally raised cultural practitioners such as the Syrian-born Mayla Atassi who founded Green Art Gallery in 1995 or Dubai-raised Sunny Rahbar who opened her gallery The Third Line in 2005 with Claudia Cellini and H.E. Omar Saif Gobash.

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Abu dhabi

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If Dubai is the UAE’s capital of glamour and commerce, then Abu Dhabi is the capital of institutions and administration. The city is not only the nation’s administrative capital but also its cultural capital. “You have the institutions and the government power located there, so it becomes defined by its government-run, top-down initiatives approach to the arts,” explains Myrna Ayad. The first arts institution to be established was the Qasr Al Hosn Cultural Foundation, created by HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in 1981. Today, the city’s showcase is the Saadiyat Island project, a landmark development bringing mega-museum projects to the city.

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Sharjah

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The emirate of Sharjah has established itself as a world-renowned location for arts and culture, led by HH Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, an author and poet, who came to the throne in 1972. The Sharjah Art Foundation was founded in 2009 and now oversees the emirate’s involvement in the arts. Next year will see the 16th edition of Sharjah Biennial in locations across the city, which is being led by an all-female panel of five curators from across the international art world. (22) The foundation is busy opening new spaces across the emirate, including the recent transformation of the Kalba Ice Factory, to provide a gallery space as well as artist studios and workshops. (23)

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SAADIYAT ISLAND

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As well as the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, other mega-projects continue to be built, including the Zayed National Museum which will celebrate UAE history and culture, and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi (20). Smaller institutions are also adding to the city’s arts landscape.  421 Arts Campus (formerly Warehouse 421) is located in the Zayed Port area, and in its own words is “an independent, anti-disciplinary platform dedicated to emerging artists and creative practitioners in the UAE and across the region.” And there are new non-profit institutions like the Bassam Freiha Foundation that opened in March 2024. (21)

KSA

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In the past five years, there has been a remarkable explosion in KSA’s arts sector. According to The Times, the country is investing $50bn into the cultural sector with the aim that it will account for 3% of his country’s GDP by 2030. “I think of the top three players in the region at the moment, Saudi is number one, the UAE is in second place followed by Qatar,” says Gaith Abdulla, “The population size and resources of the country [KSA] have shot it to number one very quickly.” As an arts writer Rahel Aima has found herself travelling more frequently to KSA, “I go to Riyadh more often than I go to Sharjah, even though Sharjah is an hour’s drive for me. Really, the main trend is that everything is gravitating towards Saudi.” So is the centre of art power in the Gulf shifting to KSA? Or do the region’s arts centres compliment and collaborate rather than compete? There have been long running ties between the UAE and KSA, with institutions such as Art Jameel having centres in both Jeddah and Dubai. Myrna Ayad explains that, “I think generally with Saudi there’s a lot of let’s wait and see because it’s not all built yet, but from a regional perspective, everything that they’ve done
so far compliments what’s already here.”

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Riyadh

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Jeddah

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Alula

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Case study

AlUla

AlUla, an ancient oasis city and KSA’s first UNESCO World Heritage site (26) has quickly emerged as another centre for the arts. Situated in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, it is being developed by the Ministry of Culture (27) as a centre for arts and culture with an estimated cost of $15 billion. (28) One of the centre pieces is the AlUla arts festival (Desert x AlUla) (29), which has now had three editions and turns the desert landscape into an open-air arts festival. Alongside the festival, new exhibits and galleries have been announced. Wadi AlFann is a large-scale site for land art set for opening in 2026 that will feature artists such as James Turrell and Manal AlDowayan. There is also a collaboration planned with Centre Pompidou. The Maraya Concert Hall made headlines when it opened as the Guinness World Record holder for the world’s largest mirror-clad building. 

Qatar

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Kuwait

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Bahrain

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Oman

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