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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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Sikka Art & Design Festival 2026
Sikka Art & Design Festival 2026 is a chance to see a different Dubai: not just towers and malls, but narrow lanes, traditional houses, and a dense programme driven by regional artists and designers.
The 14th Sikka Art & Design Festival will run from 23 January to 1 February 2026 in Al Shindagha Historic Neighbourhood. The event uses restored Emirati houses, courtyards, and alleyways as its main exhibition architecture.
Sikka is focused on Emirati and GCC‑based artists and designers, both emerging and established. The open call for 2026 stresses that all submissions must be new, previously unseen works that speak to Dubai’s culture, communities, and urban context.
The festival's programme also includes talks, workshops, family activities, food concepts, and pop‑up retail that bring together design objects, books, crafts, and culinary projects rooted in local traditions.
Sikka Art & Design Festival 2026 is a chance to see a different Dubai: not just towers and malls, but narrow lanes, traditional houses, and a dense programme driven by regional artists and designers.
The 14th Sikka Art & Design Festival will run from 23 January to 1 February 2026 in Al Shindagha Historic Neighbourhood. The event uses restored Emirati houses, courtyards, and alleyways as its main exhibition architecture.
Sikka is focused on Emirati and GCC‑based artists and designers, both emerging and established. The open call for 2026 stresses that all submissions must be new, previously unseen works that speak to Dubai’s culture, communities, and urban context.
The festival's programme also includes talks, workshops, family activities, food concepts, and pop‑up retail that bring together design objects, books, crafts, and culinary projects rooted in local traditions.
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Quoz Arts Fest 2026
Tomorrow, the Quoz Arts Fest will turn Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue and the wider Al Quoz Creative Zone into a walkable stage. For two days, art, music, and food take over warehouses, courtyards, and the streets of Alserkal Avenue. For January, it is one of the city’s key events, offering a vivid snapshot of the regional scene, from experimental installations to hip hop and family activities.
Read today's article to learn more about the packed programme of the fest!
Tomorrow, the Quoz Arts Fest will turn Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue and the wider Al Quoz Creative Zone into a walkable stage. For two days, art, music, and food take over warehouses, courtyards, and the streets of Alserkal Avenue. For January, it is one of the city’s key events, offering a vivid snapshot of the regional scene, from experimental installations to hip hop and family activities.
Read today's article to learn more about the packed programme of the fest!
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Error 001 – Experimental Villa
Error 001 – Experimental Villa Is a bold residential design by Error Architecture Studio that mirrors two inverted "ground" volumes facing each other. It challenges the conventional villa typology that dominates Dubai’s suburban landscape.
The villa explores raw materiality, modular thinking, and climatic responsiveness. Volumes are fragmented rather than unified. Thus, they create shaded interstitial spaces that respond to heat and light while blurring the boundary between interior and exterior. Structural elements are often left exposed, reinforcing the idea of a building as a process rather than a sealed object. The layout prioritises adaptability: spaces can be reconfigured, extended, or even partially dismantled, which challenges the notion of the villa as a static status symbol.
Where?
Dubai
#architecture_uae
Error 001 – Experimental Villa Is a bold residential design by Error Architecture Studio that mirrors two inverted "ground" volumes facing each other. It challenges the conventional villa typology that dominates Dubai’s suburban landscape.
The villa explores raw materiality, modular thinking, and climatic responsiveness. Volumes are fragmented rather than unified. Thus, they create shaded interstitial spaces that respond to heat and light while blurring the boundary between interior and exterior. Structural elements are often left exposed, reinforcing the idea of a building as a process rather than a sealed object. The layout prioritises adaptability: spaces can be reconfigured, extended, or even partially dismantled, which challenges the notion of the villa as a static status symbol.
Where?
Dubai
#architecture_uae
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Winged Dragon Called "Stoclet Dragon"
Produced in Northern China, ca. -450 to ca. -250. Bronze. 48.5 x 67 cm.
This sculpture is an exceptional example of monumental animal sculpture from the Chinese pre-imperial period. The work is thought to have originated from Yan Xiadu, the capital of the State of Yan during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), where it may have served as a decorative element in a palace or elite tomb.
While Chinese in its symbolic meaning, this winged dragon is a composite being, combining the hindquarters of a feline, the forequarters of an alligator, the antlers of a stag, and the wings of a bird. Exceptional for its scale and dynamism, it is the largest known freestanding dragon sculpture from this period in Chinese art.
The sculpture’s fame is further linked to its former owner, the Belgian collector Adolphe Stoclet (1871–1949).
Where to see?
Louvre Abu Dhabi
#artpieceofthedayuae
Courtesy of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
Photo: Mohamed Somji.
Produced in Northern China, ca. -450 to ca. -250. Bronze. 48.5 x 67 cm.
This sculpture is an exceptional example of monumental animal sculpture from the Chinese pre-imperial period. The work is thought to have originated from Yan Xiadu, the capital of the State of Yan during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), where it may have served as a decorative element in a palace or elite tomb.
While Chinese in its symbolic meaning, this winged dragon is a composite being, combining the hindquarters of a feline, the forequarters of an alligator, the antlers of a stag, and the wings of a bird. Exceptional for its scale and dynamism, it is the largest known freestanding dragon sculpture from this period in Chinese art.
The sculpture’s fame is further linked to its former owner, the Belgian collector Adolphe Stoclet (1871–1949).
Where to see?
Louvre Abu Dhabi
#artpieceofthedayuae
Courtesy of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
Photo: Mohamed Somji.
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Invisible Fish by Saif Azzuz
Lawrie Shabibi presents Invisible Fish, an exhibition by Libyan–Yurok artist Saif Azzuz, on view until 3 April 2026. The show is an immersive reflection on water, memory, and ecological change, bringing together diverse art pieces.
Azzuz approaches land and water as living, relational systems. His practice draws attention to the balance between people and the sea, revisiting the cultural and environmental histories of the region before the rise of its urban coastlines. Through his lens, water becomes a shared language of sustenance, migration, and connection across continents.
Lawrie Shabibi presents Invisible Fish, an exhibition by Libyan–Yurok artist Saif Azzuz, on view until 3 April 2026. The show is an immersive reflection on water, memory, and ecological change, bringing together diverse art pieces.
Azzuz approaches land and water as living, relational systems. His practice draws attention to the balance between people and the sea, revisiting the cultural and environmental histories of the region before the rise of its urban coastlines. Through his lens, water becomes a shared language of sustenance, migration, and connection across continents.
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The Sail by Mattar Bin Lahej
This striking sculpture by Emirati artist Mattar Bin Lahej rises about 5 metres high and takes the shape of a stylised sail, created from intertwined Arabic script. Rather than depicting a literal sailboat form, the work uses Arabic calligraphy as text and structure, turning language into an architectural presence in the public space.
The letters form a quote attributed to HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai: “The future will be for those who can imagine, design, and implement; the future does not wait for the future, but it can be designed and built today.”
Where to see?
Address Beach Resort, Dubai
#public_art_uae
This striking sculpture by Emirati artist Mattar Bin Lahej rises about 5 metres high and takes the shape of a stylised sail, created from intertwined Arabic script. Rather than depicting a literal sailboat form, the work uses Arabic calligraphy as text and structure, turning language into an architectural presence in the public space.
The letters form a quote attributed to HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai: “The future will be for those who can imagine, design, and implement; the future does not wait for the future, but it can be designed and built today.”
Where to see?
Address Beach Resort, Dubai
#public_art_uae
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Exploring Art in the Financial District
Dubai’s financial district art cluster today is a self‑contained cultural itinerary that can be easily explored in a single evening without ever leaving DIFC. The area around Gate Village and Gate Avenue is now a dense network of spaces where global blue‑chip art, regional contemporary practices, and an open‑air sculpture park function as a single stage.
In today's article, we are going to tell you about six notable galleries:
1. Perrotin.
2. Opera Gallery Dubai.
3. Sconci Gallery.
4. Christie’s Gallery.
5. Andakulova Gallery.
6. DIFC Sculpture Park.
Dubai’s financial district art cluster today is a self‑contained cultural itinerary that can be easily explored in a single evening without ever leaving DIFC. The area around Gate Village and Gate Avenue is now a dense network of spaces where global blue‑chip art, regional contemporary practices, and an open‑air sculpture park function as a single stage.
In today's article, we are going to tell you about six notable galleries:
1. Perrotin.
2. Opera Gallery Dubai.
3. Sconci Gallery.
4. Christie’s Gallery.
5. Andakulova Gallery.
6. DIFC Sculpture Park.
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The Xposure International Photography and Film Festival 2026
On 29 January, Sharjah will become the photography capital of the region. The Xposure Festival marks its tenth edition, bringing together documentary photographers, artists, and photojournalists from around the world under one programme. For visitors, it is a rare chance to see in a single week how visual storytelling works today, from front‑line reportage to poetic, almost cinematic series.
The event will take place in the new Aljada district in Sharjah and run through 4 February 2026.
On 29 January, Sharjah will become the photography capital of the region. The Xposure Festival marks its tenth edition, bringing together documentary photographers, artists, and photojournalists from around the world under one programme. For visitors, it is a rare chance to see in a single week how visual storytelling works today, from front‑line reportage to poetic, almost cinematic series.
The event will take place in the new Aljada district in Sharjah and run through 4 February 2026.
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Self‑portrait with a cat I don’t have
“Self‑portrait with a cat I don’t have” is Syrian-French artist Bady Dalloul’s solo exhibition, on view at Jameel Arts Centre until 22 February 2026. It proposes a self‑portrait that is more about narrative construction, where invented details, gaps, and misremembered episodes form an alternative, speculative biography.
The “cat I don’t have” is as a metaphor for all that is absent yet structuring: the missing objects, people, and timelines that nonetheless shape how an artist is perceived and how they perceive themselves. Through this lens, Dalloul’s work opens onto questions of collective memory, suggesting that the self is inseparable from broader histories of migration, displacement, and representation.
“Self‑portrait with a cat I don’t have” is Syrian-French artist Bady Dalloul’s solo exhibition, on view at Jameel Arts Centre until 22 February 2026. It proposes a self‑portrait that is more about narrative construction, where invented details, gaps, and misremembered episodes form an alternative, speculative biography.
The “cat I don’t have” is as a metaphor for all that is absent yet structuring: the missing objects, people, and timelines that nonetheless shape how an artist is perceived and how they perceive themselves. Through this lens, Dalloul’s work opens onto questions of collective memory, suggesting that the self is inseparable from broader histories of migration, displacement, and representation.
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Hybrid Vistas Collective Exhibition
NIKA Project Space presents Hybrid Vistas, an exhibition featuring five artists: Adel Abidin, Daniele Genadry, Ali Kaeini, Katya Muromtseva, and Melissa Rios. On display until 7 February 2026, the show re-examines landscape in contemporary art, where nature is no longer depicted as a stable, familiar scene but is reconstructed through technology, memory, perception, and hybrid forms of experience.
NIKA Project Space presents Hybrid Vistas, an exhibition featuring five artists: Adel Abidin, Daniele Genadry, Ali Kaeini, Katya Muromtseva, and Melissa Rios. On display until 7 February 2026, the show re-examines landscape in contemporary art, where nature is no longer depicted as a stable, familiar scene but is reconstructed through technology, memory, perception, and hybrid forms of experience.
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421 Celebrates Ten Years of Shared Creativity
Abu Dhabi’s 421 Arts Campus launches its 2026 Winter Program this January, marking the institution’s tenth anniversary with a season dedicated to process, participation, and shared learning. Running through March 12, the program includes a landmark exhibition, over fifteen workshops, and a diverse lineup of public events designed to deepen community engagement with contemporary art and culture across the UAE and the wider Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region.
Abu Dhabi’s 421 Arts Campus launches its 2026 Winter Program this January, marking the institution’s tenth anniversary with a season dedicated to process, participation, and shared learning. Running through March 12, the program includes a landmark exhibition, over fifteen workshops, and a diverse lineup of public events designed to deepen community engagement with contemporary art and culture across the UAE and the wider Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region.
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The Truth by Hussein Al Mohasen
Until 5 February 2026, XVA Gallery is hosting The Truth, Saudi artist Hussein Al Mohasen's solo exhibition that explores perception, reality, and the possibilities of visual experience. On display are the artist's new works in which he uses colour, poetic reference, and expressive techniques to engage with the notion of “truth” not as a fixed fact but as something felt, interpreted, and shared through imagery.
Until 5 February 2026, XVA Gallery is hosting The Truth, Saudi artist Hussein Al Mohasen's solo exhibition that explores perception, reality, and the possibilities of visual experience. On display are the artist's new works in which he uses colour, poetic reference, and expressive techniques to engage with the notion of “truth” not as a fixed fact but as something felt, interpreted, and shared through imagery.
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A Journey Through teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi
teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi has already become one of the key attractions in the Saadiyat cultural cluster by February 2026, offering a format of a living digital museum that constantly changes together with its visitors.
The venue is located in the Saadiyat Cultural District, next to Louvre Abu Dhabi and other major museums in the making, forming a unified route for cultural tourism and professional audiences. teamLab Phenomena is not a classical museum with a fixed display. The works function as systems that react to movement, presence, and time, so each visit in February 2026 promises to differ from the previous one.
teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi has already become one of the key attractions in the Saadiyat cultural cluster by February 2026, offering a format of a living digital museum that constantly changes together with its visitors.
The venue is located in the Saadiyat Cultural District, next to Louvre Abu Dhabi and other major museums in the making, forming a unified route for cultural tourism and professional audiences. teamLab Phenomena is not a classical museum with a fixed display. The works function as systems that react to movement, presence, and time, so each visit in February 2026 promises to differ from the previous one.
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Remnants by Kais Salman
Remnants is a solo exhibition by Syrian artist Kais Salman, on display at Ayyam Gallery until 18 March 2026, in which painting becomes a field for working with memory, broken images, and visual “shards” of the region’s recent history. Salman “places the viewer among ruins”: the works are constructed as a layer of forgotten images buried under decades of historical and media accumulation. The canvas becomes a space where memory is reassembled, a visual archive that has survived the collapse of previous narratives and attempts to rewrite them.
Remnants is a solo exhibition by Syrian artist Kais Salman, on display at Ayyam Gallery until 18 March 2026, in which painting becomes a field for working with memory, broken images, and visual “shards” of the region’s recent history. Salman “places the viewer among ruins”: the works are constructed as a layer of forgotten images buried under decades of historical and media accumulation. The canvas becomes a space where memory is reassembled, a visual archive that has survived the collapse of previous narratives and attempts to rewrite them.
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The Audemars Piguet Pavilion
The Audemars Piguet pavilion at Dubai Watch Week 2025 can be described as a separate museum of time. The House of Wonders occupies approximately 1,000 m² in Burj Park and is constructed as an independent journey from Dubai to Le Brassus. One of the largest and most striking structures of the fair, it functions as an architectural portal between the Swiss valley and the Downtown panorama, where Burj Khalifa and the fountains stand behind the glass, while inside, 150 years of the brand’s history unfold through rooms and scenarios.
The Audemars Piguet pavilion at Dubai Watch Week 2025 can be described as a separate museum of time. The House of Wonders occupies approximately 1,000 m² in Burj Park and is constructed as an independent journey from Dubai to Le Brassus. One of the largest and most striking structures of the fair, it functions as an architectural portal between the Swiss valley and the Downtown panorama, where Burj Khalifa and the fountains stand behind the glass, while inside, 150 years of the brand’s history unfold through rooms and scenarios.
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And After: Group Exhibition
Until 22 February 2026, the Cultural Foundation is holding And After, an exhibition featuring works by 15 contemporary artists who explore the elemental qualities of air through evocative Arabic concepts: Sukoon, Hawaa, Naseem, and Riyah. These ideas guide visitors through varying states of calm and motion, inviting reflection on how air shapes inner rhythms, perception, and our relationship with the environment.
Until 22 February 2026, the Cultural Foundation is holding And After, an exhibition featuring works by 15 contemporary artists who explore the elemental qualities of air through evocative Arabic concepts: Sukoon, Hawaa, Naseem, and Riyah. These ideas guide visitors through varying states of calm and motion, inviting reflection on how air shapes inner rhythms, perception, and our relationship with the environment.
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When the Window Refused to Fly, and the Arch Decided to Hold the Sky
On view at Green Art Gallery, this solo exhibition by Emirati artist Asma Belhamar offers a poetic reconsideration of architecture, memory, and imagination. It features a collection of artworks that rethink the built environment as a repository of personal histories and collective futures. The show will run through 18 March 2026.
On view at Green Art Gallery, this solo exhibition by Emirati artist Asma Belhamar offers a poetic reconsideration of architecture, memory, and imagination. It features a collection of artworks that rethink the built environment as a repository of personal histories and collective futures. The show will run through 18 March 2026.
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