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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Urdu Worlds: Where Language Becomes Home
Ishara Art Foundation presents Urdu Worlds, an exhibition dedicated to the Urdu language, on view until 31 May 2026. Curated by Hammad Nasar, the show stages a visual conversation between Ali Kazim and Zarina, and marks the first comprehensive presentation of Kazim’s work in the Gulf.
Urdu Worlds takes language as both its subject and material, asking how words do more than describe the world and instead participate in making it. The exhibition proposes Urdu as a dynamic site where personal histories, collective memories, and political imaginaries intersect.
Ishara Art Foundation presents Urdu Worlds, an exhibition dedicated to the Urdu language, on view until 31 May 2026. Curated by Hammad Nasar, the show stages a visual conversation between Ali Kazim and Zarina, and marks the first comprehensive presentation of Kazim’s work in the Gulf.
Urdu Worlds takes language as both its subject and material, asking how words do more than describe the world and instead participate in making it. The exhibition proposes Urdu as a dynamic site where personal histories, collective memories, and political imaginaries intersect.
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In Constant Flux: Seth P. Benzel
American artist Seth P. Benzel is one of the most distinctive figures in contemporary abstract painting, working between New York, Dubai, and Florida, where he also runs and curates his own space, 8th Ave Gallery. In his practice, a deconstructive approach bringing both the “ground” and successive painterly layers to the surface turns the canvas into an open system that resists any fixed final statement and instead acts as a point of departure for new ways of seeing.
Today, we speak with Mr. Benzel about his artistic language, international career, and his thoughts on the role of art in today’s society.
American artist Seth P. Benzel is one of the most distinctive figures in contemporary abstract painting, working between New York, Dubai, and Florida, where he also runs and curates his own space, 8th Ave Gallery. In his practice, a deconstructive approach bringing both the “ground” and successive painterly layers to the surface turns the canvas into an open system that resists any fixed final statement and instead acts as a point of departure for new ways of seeing.
Today, we speak with Mr. Benzel about his artistic language, international career, and his thoughts on the role of art in today’s society.
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Of Land and Water at SAF
Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) presents exhibition Of Land and Water: Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection in Kalba, Featuring rarely shown large‑scale works by nine artists and collectives, the show will run through 31 May 2026.
Curator Jiwon Lee frames the exhibition through the concept of tanah air — “land and water”, a term that simultaneously denotes homeland and links different shores to one another. “We were interested in how waters not only divide territories but also connect them: if you are bound by the sea to another shore, you in some way belong to it as well,” the curator notes.
Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) presents exhibition Of Land and Water: Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection in Kalba, Featuring rarely shown large‑scale works by nine artists and collectives, the show will run through 31 May 2026.
Curator Jiwon Lee frames the exhibition through the concept of tanah air — “land and water”, a term that simultaneously denotes homeland and links different shores to one another. “We were interested in how waters not only divide territories but also connect them: if you are bound by the sea to another shore, you in some way belong to it as well,” the curator notes.
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Al Maktoum Throne
One of the key historical objects on display within Al Shindagha Museum, this piece is a ceremonial throne associated with the ruling family of Dubai, particularly members of the Al Maktoum dynasty, the family that has governed Dubai since the 19th century.
The throne symbolises traditional leadership and governance in pre-oil era Dubai, when local rulers maintained authority through tribal connections, pearl-fishing networks, and trade across the Gulf.
As a seat of authority, it was used in official gatherings, meetings with tribal leaders, and events where local governance and dispute resolution took place.
Where?
Al Shindagha Museum,
Al Fahidi district, Dubai
#artpieceofthedayuae
One of the key historical objects on display within Al Shindagha Museum, this piece is a ceremonial throne associated with the ruling family of Dubai, particularly members of the Al Maktoum dynasty, the family that has governed Dubai since the 19th century.
The throne symbolises traditional leadership and governance in pre-oil era Dubai, when local rulers maintained authority through tribal connections, pearl-fishing networks, and trade across the Gulf.
As a seat of authority, it was used in official gatherings, meetings with tribal leaders, and events where local governance and dispute resolution took place.
Where?
Al Shindagha Museum,
Al Fahidi district, Dubai
#artpieceofthedayuae
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The Swing by Azza Al Qubaisi
This art piece by Emirati artist Azza Al Qubaisi offers more than a playful perch: it evokes the emotional history of pearl-fishing communities. The metal structure integrates palm-leaf patterns and represents the world that women once waited onshore for returning dhows. Today it becomes a space for reflection and modern togetherness against the skyline.
Where to see?
Al Noor Island, Sharjah
#public_art_uae
This art piece by Emirati artist Azza Al Qubaisi offers more than a playful perch: it evokes the emotional history of pearl-fishing communities. The metal structure integrates palm-leaf patterns and represents the world that women once waited onshore for returning dhows. Today it becomes a space for reflection and modern togetherness against the skyline.
Where to see?
Al Noor Island, Sharjah
#public_art_uae
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Guardian Elevation by Xavier Magaldi
In the contemporary city, public sculpture no longer simply occupies leftover space. It forms visual axes, enters into dialogue with architecture, and becomes part of urban movement. In this context, Guardian Elevation by Swiss artist Xavier Magaldi, presented at DIFC Sculpture Park, appears as a vertical sign and stable landmark within one of Dubai’s densest architectural environments.
Installed in front of the DIFC Gate, the sculpture is situated at the heart of an emblematic urban scene. It accompanies the daily trajectories of residents across the esplanade, structuring the space and highlighting the relationship between public art and contemporary architecture. For Magaldi, a public sculpture should not overpower a site but “inhabit it with a clear and benevolent presence,” elevating the cultural dimension of its surroundings.
#public_art_uae
In the contemporary city, public sculpture no longer simply occupies leftover space. It forms visual axes, enters into dialogue with architecture, and becomes part of urban movement. In this context, Guardian Elevation by Swiss artist Xavier Magaldi, presented at DIFC Sculpture Park, appears as a vertical sign and stable landmark within one of Dubai’s densest architectural environments.
Installed in front of the DIFC Gate, the sculpture is situated at the heart of an emblematic urban scene. It accompanies the daily trajectories of residents across the esplanade, structuring the space and highlighting the relationship between public art and contemporary architecture. For Magaldi, a public sculpture should not overpower a site but “inhabit it with a clear and benevolent presence,” elevating the cultural dimension of its surroundings.
#public_art_uae
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Poetry of Birds
Until 25 April 2026, L’ÉCOLE Middle East, School of Jewellery Arts in Dubai, is hosting the exhibition Poetry of Birds, dedicated to the image of birds at the intersection of Islamic art and Western jewellery design of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The exhibition brings together around 150 pieces of jewellery, precious objects and gouache drawings of birds by leading maisons of high jewellery. Set in dialogue with them are carpets, ceramics, miniatures, and other works of Islamic art from the collections of the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization and Dubai museums, revealing how deeply bird motifs are rooted in the region’s visual culture.
Until 25 April 2026, L’ÉCOLE Middle East, School of Jewellery Arts in Dubai, is hosting the exhibition Poetry of Birds, dedicated to the image of birds at the intersection of Islamic art and Western jewellery design of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The exhibition brings together around 150 pieces of jewellery, precious objects and gouache drawings of birds by leading maisons of high jewellery. Set in dialogue with them are carpets, ceramics, miniatures, and other works of Islamic art from the collections of the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization and Dubai museums, revealing how deeply bird motifs are rooted in the region’s visual culture.
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Al Duroor by Mattar Bin Lahej
Emirati artist and designer Mattar Bin Lahej has created the sculpture Al Duroor, one of the key works within the Dubai Public Art programme. The metal sculpture, which rises to a height of 5 m., refers to the traditional system of astronomical calculations known as al‑durur, which people in the Gulf once used to determine the seasons, the start of the sailing period, fishing times and the agricultural cycle.
Where to see?
Al Shindagha Historic Neighbourhood, Dubai
#public_art_uae
Emirati artist and designer Mattar Bin Lahej has created the sculpture Al Duroor, one of the key works within the Dubai Public Art programme. The metal sculpture, which rises to a height of 5 m., refers to the traditional system of astronomical calculations known as al‑durur, which people in the Gulf once used to determine the seasons, the start of the sailing period, fishing times and the agricultural cycle.
Where to see?
Al Shindagha Historic Neighbourhood, Dubai
#public_art_uae
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Turban Helmet
Produced in Turkey, Aq-Qoyunlu or Ottoman, ca. 1450-1500. Steel with silver inlays, traces of gold. 61 x 26 x 31 cm.
One of the most significant examples of Islamic armour to have survived to the present day, it features a bulbous dome forged from a single piece of metal. Its surface is articulated with broad, twisted grooves that evoke the folds of a wrapped turban. A camail of chain mail extends from the base, protecting the neck, ears, and parts of the face; a detachable nasal guard passes through the mail for additional facial protection. A knop originally supported a jewelled plume, enhancing the helmet’s ceremonial presence.
This piece belongs to a group of helmets characterised by vertical or spiral gadroons, worn across the Iranian world and Anatolia between the 14th and 16th centuries. Their inscriptions allude to Sufi spiritual ideals.
Where to see?
Louvre Abu Dhabi
#artpieceofthedayuae
Courtesy of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
Photo: Thierry Ollivier.
Produced in Turkey, Aq-Qoyunlu or Ottoman, ca. 1450-1500. Steel with silver inlays, traces of gold. 61 x 26 x 31 cm.
One of the most significant examples of Islamic armour to have survived to the present day, it features a bulbous dome forged from a single piece of metal. Its surface is articulated with broad, twisted grooves that evoke the folds of a wrapped turban. A camail of chain mail extends from the base, protecting the neck, ears, and parts of the face; a detachable nasal guard passes through the mail for additional facial protection. A knop originally supported a jewelled plume, enhancing the helmet’s ceremonial presence.
This piece belongs to a group of helmets characterised by vertical or spiral gadroons, worn across the Iranian world and Anatolia between the 14th and 16th centuries. Their inscriptions allude to Sufi spiritual ideals.
Where to see?
Louvre Abu Dhabi
#artpieceofthedayuae
Courtesy of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
Photo: Thierry Ollivier.
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Hard Like Tears, Soft Like Glass by Shamsa Al Omaira
Iris Projects at MiZa presents Hard Like Tears, Soft Like Glass, Emirati artist Shamsa Al Omaira’s first solo exhibition in 12 years: the result of a mentorship project and a significant statement on memory and family experience.
Until 30 April 2026, the gallery space is serving as a “room of memory”, where the artist works with forms that recall everyday and childhood life: bed linens, pillows, jelly desserts, and domestic textiles. These soft, familiar motifs become sculptures and objects that conceal ceramic and glass shards inside, so fragility and danger are literally embedded in shapes associated with comfort and protection.
Iris Projects at MiZa presents Hard Like Tears, Soft Like Glass, Emirati artist Shamsa Al Omaira’s first solo exhibition in 12 years: the result of a mentorship project and a significant statement on memory and family experience.
Until 30 April 2026, the gallery space is serving as a “room of memory”, where the artist works with forms that recall everyday and childhood life: bed linens, pillows, jelly desserts, and domestic textiles. These soft, familiar motifs become sculptures and objects that conceal ceramic and glass shards inside, so fragility and danger are literally embedded in shapes associated with comfort and protection.
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