Visual Arts in the Emirates of Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai

26 Apr 2025

In just two generations, over 54 years, the world has witnessed the extraordinary rise of the United Arab Emirates. For centuries, the Arabian peninsula has been a meeting point for people from the regions of South Asia, Africa and Europe - not only through the Silk Road and the region’s port cities, but also caravan routes through the Sahara and Arabian deserts. Notably, the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have become the economic and political centres of the peninsula. Dubai, with one of the most well-connected airports in the world, has cemented its place as an attractive city for immigrants of all skills, colours and sectors, rivalling the traditional financial epicentres of London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. From a vast desert wilderness - home to nomadic tribes over thousands of years, and later on, a vibrant pearl fishing industry - its borders have encountered attempted invasions by the Ottomans, Portuguese and British, but colonisation never succeeded. In 1971, seven tribal leaders came together with a shared vision, uniting their people into one nation as seven different emirates - their shared dreams of which have propelled the land into a modern, forward-thinking country. This international reputation is a testament to the founding fathers - namely, their long-term vision, leadership and willingness to work together towards a common goal. Today, the UAE is bordered by land with Saudi Arabia and Oman, and through waters with Qatar, Iran and Oman. 

The seven emirates of the UAE - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, are led by six different ruling families (different branches of the Al Qasimi family govern two emirates), with each governed by a Sheikh (head of each ruling family) who descends from the country’s founding families. The seven Sheikhs form the Supreme Council of Rulers - a body that is responsible for the highest decision-making including foreign relations and important government appointments. Each emirate has a distinct culture, geographical history and landscape which are exemplified through economic, cultural and social initiatives.

For a sense of scale, the land area of the UAE at 83,000km2 is similar to that of Austria or the US state of Maine. Its nominal GDP at approximately USD514.1B is comparative to the economies of Singapore, Israel, Thailand and Austria. 

Abu Dhabi (أبوظبي; “Father of the Gazelle”) (land area: 67,340 km2 / population: 3.8M / GDP: USD310B) is the most economically-prosperous and largest emirate (accounting for 87% of the UAE’s landmass). Its name reflects the gazelles that once roamed the deserts - which are also home to vast reserves of oil and natural gas. The ruling Al Nahyan family have been involved in the political and economic activities of Abu Dhabi since the late 1700s, before the discovery of oil. The head of the family, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan played a central role in the unification of the UAE, securing Abu Dhabi’s position as the capital and political centre of the country. This is also the reason that many embassies are situated in Abu Dhabi, with the emirate being known for their landmark international joint ventures such as the cultural institutions on Saadiyat Island.

Dubai (دُبَيّ) (land area: 4,110km2 / population: 3.8M / GDP: USD117B), ruled by the Al Maktoum family, is the second largest emirate. The international vision of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum is the outcome of the Dubai that we know today - a city with a vibrant economy, excellent infrastructure and a flourishing ecosystem.

The Al Qasimi - Al Qassimi families rule the emirates of Sharjah (ٱلشَّارقَة) (land area: 235.5km2 / population: 1.8M / GDP: USD39B) and Ras Al Khaimah (رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة) (land area: 373km2 / population: 345K / GDP: USD12B); the latter bearing a fitting meaning “top of the tent” as the country’s northernmost emirate, sharing the Hajar mountain range with Oman. The name “Sharjah” can be translated to “towards the East where the sun rises”. Sharjah is deeply rooted in history, tradition and culture. Alongside the background of the Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is known within the Arab world to be a centre of enlightenment, which only holds true with the emirate’s focus on cultural development and knowledge production.

The fishing and shipping industries form the anchor to the economies of the smaller coastal emirates. The smallest emirate of Ajman (عجمان) (land area: 260km2 / population: 504K / GDP: USD11B) is ruled by the Al Nuaimi family and has cultivated a reputation of embracing foreigners with open arms. 

On the northeast coast by the gulf of Oman and helmed by the Al Sharqi family lies Fujairah (الفجيرة) (land area: 1,166km2 / population: 256K / GDP: USD6B), a picturesque emirate with an abundance of mountains, natural waterfalls and the most beautiful wadis. 

The least populous of the seven, ruled by the Al Mualla family, is Umm Al Quwain (أم القيوين) (land area: 777km2 / population: 49K / GDP: USD0.7B), which sits between Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. Its name is a nod to the emirate’s location between the land and sea, the “mother of two powers”. Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla is known to be passionate about fishing, which the emirate’s economy is largely reliant on.

Sharjah

The beautiful emirate of Sharjah is often overshadowed by its more flashy counterparts - Dubai and Abu Dhabi - with many unaware of its very own airport and home to Air Arabia, whose direct flights primarily serve cities in South Asia and selected destinations in Southeast Asia, Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The core of Sharjah lies in its vision for knowledge building, intellectual enlightenment and cultivating discourse. Reading, learning and sharing form the emirate’s DNA. It is said that Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi was known to tell diverse stories of Arabia to his children while they were growing up, which has had a profound impact on their outlook and perspective of the world. This is evident through the many prominent cultural initiatives and heritage preservation that his children are involved in such as the Sharjah Architectural Triennial, Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, Sharjah International Book Fair; higher educational institutions like the Global Studies University and Africa Institute; buildings for the community as per the House of Wisdom (inspired by the great library of Baghdad) and Bait Elowal (a  heritage house designed for dining and culture). Contrary to the larger emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Sharjah’s intention is not about extravagant buildings and blockbuster events. Its vision lies in developing the community, enlightening its people, revitalising forgotten spaces, creating an inspiring ecosystem and making programmes accessible. The Sharjah Museums Authority oversees 16 museums across Sharjah, with a range spanning Islamic art and culture, archaeology, heritage, science, marine life, as well as the history of Sharjah and the region. The iconic Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation is the first of its kind in the UAE. 

Through the Sharjah Art Foundation, a different entity led by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi (curator and daughter of the current Sheikh), contemporary art is produced within Sharjah and its surrounding region. Its year-round programming primarily focuses on international dialogue with active engagement of creative practitioners from MENA, South Asia and Southeast Asia through curatorial exchanges, artistic residencies, travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications. A core initiative of the SAF is the Sharjah Biennial (now in its sixteenth edition) which has solidified its reputation for ambitious and experimental commissions. The robust public programming of the Sharjah Biennial 16 includes their March Meetings and April Acts - a dynamic three days filled with panel discussions, artist talks, participatory workshops, film screenings, curatorial discourse and live music performances - with all events free and open to public.

This year, the Sharjah Biennial 16 convened under the title to carry - an open-ended proposition of what it means (or could mean) to carry with us our embodied past, living in the present and an imagined future. Five curators with an expertise in different regions of the world, and each with a distinct eye, worked collectively to put together a cohesive biennial of more than 200 commissions and a total of some 650 works by nearly 200 artists - from Native American culture to the indigenous tribes of South America, Australia and New Zealand, to the highlands of Southeast Asia and the socio-political issues of sub-Saharan Africa. Overseen by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, the five curators are Alia Swastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala and Zeynep Öz. 

I wrote in an earlier article about the essence of a city biennial (link), which includes urban renewal and cultural regeneration through site-specific commissions and under-utilised spaces. In light of a true city biennial, four regions of Sharjah were featured as biennial locations - several buildings within the city of Sharjah, three venues in the deserts (Al Dhaid, Al Madam, Buhais), Kalba on the eastern coast by the Gulf of Oman, and Al Hamriyah (a small wedge of land on the northeastern coast, between Ajman and Umm Al Quwain).

The emirate of Sharjah holds a special place in my heart, being the first place in the Gulf that I visited in the spring of 2024. Mashallah, I had the opportunity to visit most venues of the Sharjah Biennial this year. I share seven of my favourite works from the biennial that provoked me in some way - intellectually, physically or spiritually.

(All artwork descriptions are extracted from the text labels found at the Sharjah Biennial).

1. Monira Al Qadiri. Gastromancer, 2023

2 sculptures, fibreglass, sand, acrylic, sound

Commissioned by Kunsthaus Bregenz

Location: Sharjah Art Foundation galleries

Going into the first gallery of the Sharjah Art Foundation complex in its historic centre, I found myself in a semi-enclosed hall with high ceilings and white walls with a red-tinted hue, almost a kind of shell-like reverberating atmosphere.

In Gastromancer, Senegalese-born Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri explores the petroleum industry’s ceaseless extraction of resources. Two large red fibreglass seashells stand loomingly in the space, hovering above the ground. As we walk closer, we hear a dialogue between the two shells recounting their unintentional transformation from female to male due to external industrial factors. As we listen on, we come to learn that their inadvertent biological morphing is caused by the seepage of tributyltin (TBT), a red-hued biocide paint meant to prevent algae, barnacles and mussels from latching onto oil tankers. When female murex mollusks turn male, they lose their reproductive function, directly impacting the species’ futurity. The audio from this artwork is composed of extracts from Emirati poet’s Thani Al Suwaidi’s writings. His works were known to carry stories of the sea, fishermen and sailors. His best-known novella, al-Dizil (The Diesel), tells the story of a non-binary character who finds his calling as a singer and dancer - a topic that Arab society still considers taboo.

This thought-provoking work alludes to the transgender conversation that dominates the sphere of LGBTQ+ today. In parallel, powered by the progression of surgical developments over the last century, this relates to the challenge of an orthodox past and a changing future in a still conservative society. It also considers the liberality of people and the openness of external environmental factors that have led us to embrace or believe that nature can affect our ideologies and biological core. On the other spectrum, this forces us to think about the future of the human species. If biological females start undergoing surgery to change their gender, or engage in same-sex matrimonial relations, what would become of the world with its falling birth rate? Is it nature or nurture that causes our desire to be different? And is this very notion of thought causing more good than harm in the world?

2. Mara TK. From the River to the Sea, 2025 

Sound installation

Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation with the support of Creative New Zealand To Aotearoa

Location: Sharjah Art Foundation galleries

In another gallery in the SAF compound, a little room with a black curtain lies at the end of corridor, opposite the washrooms. In the middle of the room is a simple white bench, separating two coloured framed photographs and perpendicular to a  glass floor-length window that overlooks the courtyard.

A sound installation in the form of a song in Arabic, a collaboration between Ngati Maniapoto, Kahunguni, Kai Tahu musician Mara TK, Palestinian musician Rana Hamid, with Reem Sawan providing the Arabic translation and performing the song.

Why am I struck so deeply that these (holy) words be translated and broadcast in my own language? That we would so readily take up the struggle another people: put our children on our hips and march into the streets.”

It is not only because we know this struggle and its architects - we know its crushing rhythm and we feel its creeping tides. But before all of this, before the cascading here and now of these colonial projects - WE KNOW RIVERS. We are the rivers and we are the sea.Kati i konei… let me stop here and offer this humble contribution, a song…

‘Mai te Awa ki te Moana’ is a Maori translation of the Palestinian rallying call ‘From the River to the Sea’ (من النهر إلى البحر). This political slogan refers to the historic area of Palestine (today encompassing Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza), particularly the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea - suggesting that this area should consist of one state: Palestine.

The mediums of song and spoken word are oral traditions passed down through generations of tribes from all around the world - over the lands that they moved, the mountains they passed and the waters they crossed. The intimacy of one’s voice implies the sacred connection with nature that indigenous people have and the plight of many tribal communities today. People can take away land, material possessions and even family, but not one’s heritage, culture and knowledge.

As I sat in the room with my eyes closed, I felt myself crying. I didn’t understand the words, but the song touched my heart and soul.

3. Monica de Miranda. As If the World Had No West, 2024 and Time is the Longest Distance Between Two Places, 2024

Installation, video and photography (As If the World Had No West)

39 inkjet prints on paper, wood (Time is the Longest Distance Between Two Places)

Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation

Location: Sharjah Art Foundation galleries

In a two-part installation, a photographic display preceding a three-channel video, we notice the beauty of the untamed deserts of central Africa through flora and ruined structures. Angolan-Portugese artist Monica de Miranda entwines geocinematic storylines enmeshed in rivers, islands and deserts with refrains of African struggle, anticolonial solidarities and mutual sustenance. Filmed in an area of the Namib Desert on the southwest coast of Angola, the video and photography installation As If the World Has No West (2024) confronts built remainders of the Portuguese administration amidst fine-grained sands. De Miranda’s work engages in the ideologies and traditions of terrestrial and astral domains, engaging in discourse with the definitions of utopia and divination. 

It makes us ponder - how deep does historic colonisation really run, and is the intentional lack of local economic infrastructure and progression a curse or a blessing in disguise? With exploitation of resources and the yearning for economic development comes a price - the destruction and removal of nature. Is it possible to balance a country’s growth with the preservation of rugged landscapes and the rights of indigenous people in a sustainable way? Instead of thinking too much into the future, perhaps the now is what we need to appreciate.

4. Mohammed Al-Hawajri, Dina Matter and family (daughter Lea Al-Hawajri, Mahmoud Al-Hawajri) with Ala Younis

Drawings, acrylic on canvas, mixed media, video 

Location: Al Qasimia School 

Mohammed Al-Hawajri and Dina Mattar are Palestinian artists and members of the Eltiqa Group for Contemporary Art in the Gaza Strip. They fled with their children from their family home in Al Bureij camp in Gaza, before it was destroyed by air strikes. While temporarily displaced in a tent in Rafah, they risked sneaking back into their house to gather jackets and essentials but ultimately prioritised salvaging as many artworks as possible. They carried the rescued works to their temporary home in Cairo before settling in the UAE. 

This powerful room embalms the emotional journey of displacement that Palestinian families have faced in the past and still face today. In the commissioned paintings of Palestinians fleeing from air strikes, to hand-made puppets that bring laughter to displaced communities in Gaza, to the cling onto hope through imagined scenes of houses with freshly-picked flowers, this installation is a testament to the resistance and iman of the Palestinian people, knowing that the suffering that they experience today will not be erased from history. As we witness this genocide happen in real-time, silently from afar in the comfort of our homes, it is a reminder to us that the war is not over - that our brothers and sisters continue to fight for their livelihoods day after day, with young children knowing no other reality than the war and ruins that they see all throughout the day.

5. Rajyashri Goody. Is the water chavdar?, 2022 

Ceramic, 4 OHP sheets, 27 monotypes

Location: Old Al Dhaid Clinic

Rajyashri Goody’s practice constructs an archive of Dalit resistance, articulated, inscribed and transmitted by Dalit voices (“Dalit” refers to people of the lowest caste who are segregated from others in the traditional Indian social class system, which still exists today). Goody evokes both the public water tank Chavdar Tale, site of the revolutionary 1927 Mahad Satyagraha and the liberatory praxis of Dr B R Ambedkar, who led thousands of Dalits in the march to break caste taboos and collective drink water from the well. In wet inkjet portraits drawn from Google uploads made by visitors to the well, Goody dilutes the ink and blurs the contours between bodies and site, assuring the subjects a sense of boundlessness and the right to opacity. Ceramic mounds, placed in a narrow opening in the wall, enact an ancestral presenting, representing those who marched with Ambedkar in the form of miniature stupas that recall the iconography of the Buddhist faith and its principles of egalitarianism. Finally, extracts from Dalit biographical literature adapted into water ‘recipes’ describe the corporeal ordeals of caste oppression and forge a kinship with the resilience of both land and water. Water bodies like Chavdar and most public spaces were out of bounds for Dalit people and generations - their touch, even their shadow, was considered impure and polluting to people from higher castes. This act, then, of quenching one’s thirst from the water of Chavdar, was a fight not just for the basic human right to drink water, but for human dignity and equality. This was a moment for transformation - for those who joined Babahaheb in the march, and for the millions who have come after.

Will we ever live to see a time where our fellow humans are not being discriminated against and everyone has equal opportunities?

6. Wael Shawky. I Am Hymns of the New Temples, 2023

Video

Commissioned by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii

Location: Old Al Dhaid Clinic

Filmed in the summer of 2022 among the ruins of ancient Pompeii, struck by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, Egyptian filmmaker and artist Wael Shawky explores ancient and contemporary narratives of national identity, spiritual tradition and artistic creation through I Am Hymns of the New Temples. His moving-image works, combining drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, performance and puppetry, interweave history and myth as well as fact and fiction. In Pompeii, Shawky considers the ancient city as a place that symbolises both death and rebirth. Through repetition and poetic narration of mythological tales and stories about the origin of the universe and the birth of the deities of the Earth, the artist presents a tableau that brings together fable, reality and fiction. 

Swaying to a sonorous soundtrack, the figures of gods and goddesses, men and women, together with animals, repeat the slow, conflictual process by which the world has sought to create its own equilibrium amidst wars and natural calamities - a pattern that is repeated ad infinitum in a never-ending cycle. Shawky’s film artfully seeks to visually represent this cultural permeability and transmission. It immerses viewers in the universal human experience, from the cycle of life and death to the duality of merciful and vengeful gods. The narrative unfolds, guiding us through myths beliefs, forgotten realities, and the fiction we still rely on to make sense of the world.

How much are we relying on myths, stories and traditions to make sense of this world? Is the bubble we have become accustomed to reality? Are we riding on the coattails of comfort or are these the lives we have chosen after deep self-reflection and introspection? Perhaps life and humanity can present itself so cruelly, that myths, stories and traditions were created as an idealised vision and the only route that we may continue living as humanity advances.

7. Raven Chacon. A Wandering Breeze, 2025

Sound installation

Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation

Location: Al Madam Buried Village

Driving past the expansive sands from the desert oases of Buhais to Al Madam, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi says in a recent interview “I am connected to the spirit of my ancestors who walked the sands of Mleiha, building civilisations with their hands and wisdom. Their legacy is etched not only in stone but in our hearts and the hearts of generations to come. Their voices still echo, guiding me, reminding me I am never alone.”

Perhaps the most evocative biennial location lies in the middle of the undiscovered deserts of Sharjah, an hour’s drive from the city. The ghost village of Al Madam today is half-buried in sand, barely peeking out above the many dunes that were created over the years from passing winds. In the 1970s, Al Madam was a government public housing project to settle the Bedouin Al Ketbi tribe during the early years of nation-building. But as nature called and God willed, the project never became home to the tribe it was designed for and soon abandoned. A Wandering Breeze is a site-responsive sound installation by Native American composer, musician and artist Raven Chacon, which comprises the voices of Bedouin singers, installed in all twelve houses built for the village, allowing the forgotten memories of the tribe to weave in and out of the interiors of empty houses. Reminiscent of Indigenous resistance to sovereignty, Chacon’s installation practices no boundaries -  travelling within each house, through the village compound and out into the vast expanse of the desert.

Standing alone on the sand dunes, looking out across the infinite desert sands, observing the patterns of ripples that the wind creates through the grains of sand; surrounded only by the echoes of the Bedouin tribes, ignites something deep inside you. From being dropped off at the monumental gate of the village to walking through the deserted compound - simple, empty houses with basins and showers filled with sand. You realise there is something so beautiful about the remaining tribes that exist today - choosing not to succumb to the pressures of modernity and living in complete harmony with the earth. This link is a remarkable kinship that spiritually connects all tribal societies left in the world. Something that we, as people living in the contemporary world, will never be able to comprehend or truly experience - the sacred bond between human and nature, living amongst the greatest and most almighty of all creations.

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The Sharjah Biennial 16 surprised me in ways that I had never imagined. Artists whose artworks I had previously seen in exhibitions and biennials around the world that I had not felt a connection to before, resonated with me. Regions and cultures that I possess limited knowledge of - such as Native American, First Nations and Maori - I found fascinating. The Sharjah Biennial is truly an exceptional city biennial in showcasing the depth and breadth of art that exists in our vast world, outside the Western paradigm. I summarise three points that I believe makes the Sharjah Biennial a tastemaker in today’s world and the Sharjah Art Foundation an institution that curators, artists, researchers and collectors look towards as a key resource.

1. Curatorial vision and programming: Exemplifying the crux of diversity, multiculturalism and internationalism that is not defined by Western-centric narratives. Giving opportunities to artists in countries where they struggle to have a voice. Considering the role of arts and culture - aesthetically, politically and socially - in a global context. Amplifying underrepresented voices and preserving fading languages. Informative text labels and intellectual commentary written by guest curators, researchers and artists. Ensuring accessibility to the biennials venues and creating inclusive public programming.

2. Focus on people: A unique characteristic that makes Sharjah is the incredible team of people working behind-the-scenes to make their events possible. The knowledge, pride and friendliness of staff that I have rarely experienced in other cities pave the way to a deeper and more meaningful engagement with the local community, artists and context of each location. 

3. Quality of production and exhibition display: The amount of cultural investment and thought of production equipment, spatial design, facilities and artwork display is extraordinary. This freedom that comes with a seemingly fluid budget allows the space for experimentation, new commissions and generating new languages with creative practitioners. 

Sharjah’s future is rooted in sustainability and intentional growth, shaped by inclusivity and meaningful impact on its local communities. By continuing to balance innovation with heritage ensures the emirate’s progress in creating lasting value built on authenticity and originality. Driven by collaboration and purpose, the emirate is soon to become a unique quartier for young creatives to engage in discussion and idea generation.  

Abu Dhabi

With billions and billions of cultural investment placed into colossal ventures on the reclaimed Saadiyat Island, it is no wonder that Abu Dhabi has always been considered the cultural capital of the UAE, with its museums being used as case studies all around the world. In 2007, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan unveiled plans for the Saadiyat Cultural District - to build a collection of monumental cultural institutions designed by world-class architects. Eighteen years later, as we stand today, we witness the fruition of the Sheikh’s grand plans with the Louvre Abu Dhabi (already open with an excellent permanent presentation and quality exhibitions), the Abrahamic Family Houses (a landmark complex comprising a mosque, a synagogue and a church), the private Bassam Freiha Foundation (a collection of Orientalist art) which sits beside an outpost of the Berklee College of Music, the newly-minted teamLab Phenomena (the largest teamLab borderless in the world, surpassing the collective’s core site in Tokyo), the Art Gallery of New York University (boasting a cutting-edge programme), and the forthcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Natural History Museum and Zayed National Museum (devoted to the the first Sheikh of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan). 

On a patch of freezone land that protrudes from the mainland, where the bridge to Saadiyat Island runs through, sits the 421 Arts Campus (a nonprofit platform that supports emerging artists through exhibitions) amidst the burgeoning Mina Zayed neighbourhood (MiZa) - an emerging creative concept of art galleries, fashion designers, ed-tech incubators and co-working spaces aimed at fostering creative enterprise and collaborative innovation. On the separate Al Reem Island, which lies between the mainland and Saadiyat Island, we find the Rizq Art Initiative - an independent project space dedicated to facilitating dialogue between emerging artists, curators and researchers.

In the historic downtown Abu Dhabi, the Cultural Foundation is an architectural gem in itself, with its sandy blocks emerging like jewels in the sand. Founded in 1981 as a center for art and learning, the Cultural Foundation is a pit-stop for me each time I visit Abu Dhabi, and am lucky to count myself a regular visitor to their exhibitions. This time, I caught an exhibition about Malaysian artists from the collection of private patrons Aliya and Farouk Khan, and enjoyed a sunset viewing of Wael Shawky’s Drama (1882) in the outdoor amphitheatre, which had travelled from Venice to the first edition of the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, an initiative of the Abu Dhabi Department Of Culture and Tourism, which saw more than 70 artists install site-specific artworks across the city of Abu Dhabi and the oasis of Al Ain.

Dubai

Skip the financial and economic narrative of Dubai that the world knows about, and instead focus on the history of migration and trade of the emirate. Dubai has long been a transshipment point between India and Pakistan, facilitating the transfer of goods in a way that the two countries are unable to offer. The vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum through key development projects aligned with Dubai’s Vision 2030, Economic Agenda D33 and Social Agenda 33, makes Dubai more than just a commercial entity but one of successful placemaking through the redevelopment of cultural areas. The progressive thinking of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority has led to collaborations with the private sector including partnerships with the Art Dubai group and Alserkal Arts Foundation.

Three key projects include the Shindagha Historic District (of Al Fahidi and Dubai Creek - the important history of Dubai), Hatta (a desert town near the border with Oman) and the Al Quoz Creative Zone (in an industrial zone facing the Alserkal Avenue; a similar concept to MiZa in Abu Dhabi). Alserkal Avenue is perhaps one of the most successful placemaking community initiatives in the country - developed by private patron Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal. A collective of art galleries, cafes, concept stores, restaurants and nonprofit institutions, the area today spans 92,000 km2 and counts a footfall of over 70,000 monthly. In the compound is the Ishara Art Foundation (a nonprofit founded by Smita Prabhakar) aimed at presenting contemporary art from South Asia. I was fortunate to see a poignant exhibition by Shilpa Gupta, and a reiteration of her in-motion installation ‘Listening Air’ (a collection of marginalised voices, songs and poetry united with civil rights movements) which I experienced in Venice last year.

Two other independent spaces in Dubai worth travelling to are Bayt Al Mamzar, an artist-focused space, in the modest district of Deira (between mainland Dubai and Sharjah), and the Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai’s privately-funded preeminent contemporary arts institution, located by the waterfront.

There is no other time better than to visit Dubai during their Art Week in April, with Art Dubai (est. 2007) as the anchor that attracts collectors from the region and a large contingent from India, many of whom call Dubai their second home. As the city bursts with energy, the focus is on Madinat Jumeirah, a cultural complex that Art Dubai calls home. This year, I enjoyed the robust programming of talks and myriad of events that one had to select carefully. A city’s art week is not defined by its commercial endeavours, but through the engagement of the local communities and the all-around programming in the city. This is why I look forward to returning to the next edition of Art Dubai.

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Through the resilience, long-term vision and conviction of the seven Sheikhs, the UAE has cemented its influence in the world and its results are felt amongst its growing population of immigrants. To implement a successful nation-building and nation-branding plan requires national unity, a growth mindset and a clear strategy to execute in order that nothing goes unmissed. From functional infrastructure to creating a holistic ecosystem for established businesses and rising entrepreneurs, and equally important - installing values of hard work and hope in their people - it is time we look to the UAE as a centre of knowledge production, creative incubation and a thriving nation of the future. Its history of migration and footprints of diverse immigrants who have been welcomed form the richness of human experiences that many developed countries lack. It is the melting pot of cultures and civilisations that the state has become - a testament to the power of ideas, hopes and dreams; one to inspire future generations and leave a lasting legacy for centuries to come.

I believe that with the existing and forthcoming cultural developments of the UAE and other countries in the Gulf, there is no longer a need to travel to Europe or North America to enjoy a cultural experience of excellent quality. Looking through an unbiased lens, what is possible in the UAE, with its multiculturalism and hospitality to diversity and equal economic prospects for everyone, only opens more doors - a feat that no other country has achieved. 

At this moment in time, we are fortunate to witness the continuous rise of the UAE as a financial and cultural hub, but can it continue moving forward or will it eventually plateau? The world is watching.