Three Acclaimed NFT Female Arab Artists

Since NFTs first shook the art world in 2021, countless artists have embraced the technology. Beyond offering a more secure and convenient way to sell artworks, NFTs provide unprecedented access to global audiences. Perhaps most significantly, they grant artists a level of creative freedom that can be difficult to achieve in traditional art spaces, particularly for those whose work may face censorship in the physical world.

In our article, we highlight three internationally renowned female artists from the Middle East who have found success in the NFT space and encourage other women in the arts to explore this frontier: Kristel Bechara, Aya Tarek, and Adra Kandil (Dear Nostalgia).

Shebara Resort

Completed in 2024, Shebara Resort sits off the coast of Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Province, set on the waters surrounding Sheybarah Island. Conceived by Dubai-based practice Killa Design, the resort features 73 villas: 38 suspended above the lagoon and 35 perched along the beachfront.

The over-water pods are clad in polished stainless steel and shaped into orb forms that reflect the surrounding landscape. It gives them a near-invisible quality as they hover above the water with minimal structural intrusion. On land, the villas and amenity buildings are embedded in sand and vegetation. Their low-profile, curved forms and soft material palette help the resort recede into its natural setting.

#architecture_saudi_arabia

Memememememe Exhibition

Until 4 December 2025, the Media Majlis Museum is hosting Memememememe, an immersive exhibition that explores the world of memes and their role in contemporary culture. Here, memes are positioned as complex cultural artefacts: carriers of identity, humour, politics, and social belonging. The title of the show gestures toward the viral mutability of memes and the self-referential nature of online culture, where “me, me, me” often becomes the centre of attention.

Al Mahatta Museum

The Al Mahatta Museum offers a captivating journey through the history of aviation in the UAE and the wider Gulf region. It is housed in the buildings of the first airport in the country, originally established in 1932.

The museum immerses visitors in the atmosphere of early 20th-century aviation. It retains the distinctive architecture of its original hangars and control buildings. Inside, restored propeller planes, refuelling trucks, and navigation instruments tell the story of how the first flights connected the region to the wider world. The museum also features one of the first cinemas in the Gulf, which opened at the site in 1945.

Where?
Al Estiqlal Street
Al Qasimia, Sharjah

#mustvisitmuseumuae

Frank Gehry: the Architect Who Changed Modern Architecture Forever

A recipient of the 1989 Pritzker Prize, Frank Gehry transformed the building from a functional object into a sculptural gesture and an urban “magnet” capable of triggering cultural and economic transformations across entire neighbourhoods and cities.

His iconic works, such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, and other multiple buildings, have become visual codes of the digital design era, showing how radical experimentation with form, material, and space can break beyond professional boundaries and become part of mass cultural experience.

In the UAE, Frank Gehry's major project is the Guggenheim Museum Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island, which is currently under construction.

The Contingent Object by Shaikha Al Mazrou

The Contingent Object (2025), a large-scale installation by artist Shaikha Al Mazrou, is one of the most breathtaking artworks at Manar Abu Dhabi 2025.

The installation is an illuminated salt pool, 30 m. in diameter, its pink surface alive with colour and texture. Constructed entirely from locally sourced salt and filled with water tinted by natural algae pigments, the piece becomes a living study of fragility and transformation. As the days pass, evaporation deepens the hue, crystals bloom, and the surface gradually shifts from fluid to solid, casting an ever-changing, luminous presence on the landscape.

Where to see?
Al Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi

#public_art_uae

And Then, A Return by Fatma Al-Naimi

Until 13 December 2025, the Fire Station is hosting And Then, A Return, a solo exhibition by Qatari artist Fatma Al-Naimi. It features the latest series of her paintings produced during her 2025 participation in the institution’s Ruwad in Residence programme. In the new artworks, Al-Naimi unfolds a visual narrative that moves between moments of control and surrender: between what can be anticipated and what arrives without warning.

Prix Pictet: Storm

Ishara Art Foundation is hosting Storm, the 11th cycle of the Prix Pictet award for photography and sustainability. On display until 13 December 2025, this exhibition displays works by twelve photographers, including Takashi Arai, Marina Caneve, Camille Seaman, and others.

While the title “Storm” recalls the unpredictable power of nature, the exhibition reveals a wider terrain. Storm functions as a metaphor for the hidden and relentless forces that reshape contemporary life, from environmental collapse and political volatility to social unrest and economic uncertainty.

Improvisations

Gallery Isabelle presents Improvisations, an exhibition featuring three acclaimed Iranian artists: Raana Farnoud, Fereydoun Ave, and Shaqayeq Arabi. Running through 31 December 2025, this show dwells on what is provisional and in flux, such as a wavering line or a repeated form that never returns the same. The exhibition reflects on how uncertainty can be inhabited, shaped, and transformed.

Ten Abstract Sculptures in Dubai

In Dubai, there is a parallel city that lives not in postcards with wings and fountains, but in abstract sculptures, strange objects, and quiet gestures in space. These art pieces work slowly, collecting light, air, and the steps of passers-by, and they teach you to look at the city as a living composition. In our article, we propose a route through nine existing works and one additional sculpture.

The logic of the movement is simple: start in the centre of tourist tension at Dubai Opera, pass through City Walk, drive to Alserkal Avenue, then emerge to the water at Jameel Arts Centre, and finish the day in Expo City. The route is for those who want to feel how abstraction changes the rhythm of the city and the language it uses to speak to us.

#public_art_uae

Under the Falcon’s Wings: the Sheikh Zayed Museum

The opening of the Sheikh Zayed Museum in Abu Dhabi on 3 December 2025 became more than a cultural date in the calendar. It marks the arrival of a new “sculpture on the skyline”, a monument to the Founding Father of the UAE, in which architecture, light, and space act as a single artistic statement. The museum tells its story through form and atmosphere as much as through objects, turning the building itself into the first and most powerful exhibit. So, today, we offer you to learn more about this breathtaking project.

#mustvisitmuseumuae

Explore Hatta: Six Places You Must Visit

Tucked away among the rugged peaks of the Hajar Mountains, Hatta offers a refreshing escape into nature, history, and open landscapes. From peaceful waters and panoramic viewpoints to iconic landmarks perched high above the valley, this mountain enclave is rich in experiences for every kind of traveller. Today's article is dedicated to six must-visit spots that capture the essence of Hatta and make any visit truly memorable.

New Year mood in Dubai

15th-Century Iraqi World Map

Ink, colours, and gold on paper. 27.5 x 33 cm (folio), 28 x 34 x 3.1 cm (including mounting).

This rare illustrated map from 15th-century Iraq offers a fascinating insight into pre-modern Islamic conceptions of the world. It follows a tradition common in Islamic cartography, where the world is often presented schematically. Landmasses, seas, and regions are organised to express relationships and hierarchies rather than scale.

Beyond its informational role, the map is also a crafted object. Calligraphic inscriptions, balanced compositions, and careful use of ink and pigment reflect the high status of manuscripts as both scientific tools and works of art.

Where to see?
The Cosmography section,
Louvre Abu Dhabi

#artpieceofthedayuae

Courtesy of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. Photo: Hervé Lewandowski.

The Hierarchy of Being

This walk-in sculptural installation, commissioned as part of the Maraya Art Park initiative, was created by Iraqi-American artist and art professor Wafaa Bilal. The dome-like sculpture standing several metres tall with a diameter of over 10 m. draws from scientific discoveries of the Islamic Golden Age. Inside, it functions as a giant camera obscura: there are 15 mechanical “iris” windows that open and close in timed sequences. As they do, light enters and casts upside-down images of the surrounding waterfront and sky onto the interior surfaces.

Where to see?
Al Majaz Waterfront, Sharjah

#public_art_uae

Moments of Hope by Besher Koushaji

Moments of Hope, a solo exhibition by Syrian artist Besher Koushaji, is on display at Firetti Contemporary until 12 January 2026. Steeped in the emotional landscapes of displacement, longing, and cultural continuity, the show presents a series of works in which Koushaji reflects on both personal history and broader collective narratives shaped by conflict and uncertainty.

In the Space of Becoming by Alia Hussain Lootah

In the Space of Becoming at Aisha Alabbar Gallery is the first solo exhibition by Emirati artist Alia Hussain Lootah, set to open on 17 January and remain on view until 10 March 2026. The show displays paintings, objects, and sculptures that form a quiet yet deeply personal narrative about kinship, home, and the way forms literally “come into being” before the viewer’s eyes.

Al Hosn Festival 2026

Al Hosn Festival 2026 will turn Qasr Al Hosn and the surrounding historic cluster into a large “living set” of Emirati history: a market, a stage, a museum, and a family park all at once. Running from 17 January to 1 February 2026, the festival is the flagship festival of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, dedicated to Emirati heritage, traditional crafts, and the contemporary cultural life of the city.