Abu Dhabi Art returns for its seventeenth edition as it continues to shape itself as one of the cultural pillars of the UAE. Bringing together over 140 galleries from 37 countries, the fair reflects a constellation of artistic voices that span regions, histories, and practices. This year’s edition highlights the evolving art scenes of Nigeria, the Gulf, and Türkiye, while welcoming new participants from North and West Africa, South America, and Europe. Across this expanding geography, the fair maintains its role as a meeting point where institutions, collectors, and artists come into dialogue, shaping a wider understanding of the cultural narratives emerging from Abu Dhabi today. Among the galleries participating here are some highlights:
The Third Line
The Third Line presents works by Anuar Khalifi, Farah Al Qasimi, Jordan Nassar, Nima Nabavi, Rana Begum, Vian Sora, and Youssef Nabil. Spanning abstract and figurative practices, the presentation explores perception, geometry, memory, and identity. Rana Begum experiments with light and colour to transform the viewer’s spatial experience, while Jordan Nassar reinterprets traditional Palestinian embroidery to construct landscapes of home and longing. Nima Nabavi’s geometric compositions map the universe, and Vian Sora’s gestural paintings probe psychic excavation. Farah Al Qasimi captures everyday Gulf life with surreal vibrancy, Anuar Khalifi subverts orientalist tropes, and Youssef Nabil’s hand-coloured portraits of Iranian female figures reimagine cultural icons with intimacy.
Rizq Art Initiative
Rizq Art Initiative features a solo exhibition by Camelia Mohebi alongside a group presentation with Jagannath Panda, Gigi Scaria, Anupama Alias, Reem Al Mubarak, and Shamsa Al Mansoori, and a sculpture by Vivek Vilasini in the Sculpture Park. Mohebi’s luminous works explore consciousness, perception, and the cosmic-celestial interplay. Scaria and Panda examine urban and internal landscapes, while Anupama Alias captures displacement and wonder. Al Mansoori and Al Mubarak probe domestic textures and Emirati topographies. Vilasini’s Study for The Weeping Man meditates on grief and human fragility, reflecting contemporary crises while referencing iconic sculptural traditions.
Gallery Isabelle
Gallery Isabelle showcases Alia Zaal, Hassan Sharif, Mohammed Kazem, and Abdelkader Benchamma. Hassan Sharif’s conceptual works, from performances to assemblages and Semi-Systems drawings, interrogate industrialisation, globalisation, and everyday absurdity. Abdelkader Benchamma’s dynamic drawings explore shifting realities, invisible forces, and the tension between figuration and abstraction. Alia Zaal documents UAE flora through impressionistic techniques that blend observation and memory, reflecting resilience and continuity in rapidly changing urban landscapes.
Efie Gallery
Efie Gallery presents Visions of the Past, Memoirs of the Future, featuring Samuel Fosso, Dr. Oku Ampofo, Dina Nur Satti, and Maggie Otieno. Fosso’s self-portraits reimagine history and identity through performative photography. Ampofo’s sculptures bridge heritage and modernity, reflecting Ghanaian identity. Dina Nur Satti’s ceramic vessels evoke ritual and memory within the African diaspora, while Maggie Otieno’s sculptures, crafted from weathered materials, explore resilience, collective experience, and the human condition. Together, these artists examine how memory, tradition, and personal history shape future cultural narratives.
Lawrie Shabibi
Lawrie Shabibi presents a diverse roster including Shaikha Al Mazrou, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Marwan Bassiouni, Elias Sime, Saif Azzuz, Omar Al Gurg, Rand Abdul Jabbar, Nabil Nahas, Mandy El-Sayegh, Farhad Ahrarnia, and James Clar. Spanning painting, sculpture, and mixed media, the presentation addresses landscape, cosmology, materiality, and cultural memory. Al Mazrou’s contribution to In and Around programme, Folded Permanence, transforms paper studies into vivid stainless-steel sculptures, while Augustine Paredes’ Lamentations in the Gateway exhibition examines migration, memory, and renewal, curated by Brook Andrews.
Iris Projects
Iris Projects returns to the Focus section with works by Juma Al Haj, Shamsa Al Omaira, and Nasser Al Salem. Al Salem transforms calligraphy into spatial, architectural forms, while Al Haj deconstructs text into fluid, intuitive gestures. Al Omaira explores self-discipline and subconscious experience. The presentation reflects the tension between structure and abstraction in the contemporary Khaleeji condition. Alongside the fair, the gallery presents Silent Residues, Ammar Al Attar’s exploration of peripheral spaces and repetitive gestures, expanding photography into performance, sound, sculpture, and installation.
Location: Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date: From 19 until 23 November, 2025