Abu Dhabi Art has named Alla Abdunabi, Salmah Almansoori, and Maktoum Marwan Al Maktoum for its Beyond Emerging Artists commissions programme. They’ll be mentored by Issam Kourbaj and will show their new work at Abu Dhabi Art this November; the work will also be exhibited internationally after the fair ends (the 2024 BEA are currently showing at Sotheby’s Hong Kong before moving on to London).
The Beyond Emerging Artists programme aims to provide emerging UAE-based (predominantly Emirati) artists with opportunities to develop their work, benefit from the mentorship provided by that year’s guest curator, and reach new audiences through the platform of the fair.
Issam Kourbaj (right) said it was challenging to select just three participants “amongst so many exciting emerging artists put forward”. He’ll be working with the three selected artists “and guiding their visual voices” as they develop a body of work. The commissions are based around Al Ain, “both as a source and a canvas for new ideas”.
Alla Abdunabi works in 3D – sculpture and installation – exploring the histories of objects through storytelling that merges historical, personal, and fictional narratives. “I look forward to creating a site-specific work that listens to the buried histories of the land.”
Maktoum Marwan Al Maktoum is a multidisciplinary artist who also reflects on cultural memory and personal exploration, with a practice influenced by “lived experience, folklore, storytelling, surrealism, language and metaphor … Through a narrative-driven, world-building approach, he constructs new associations and meanings”.
And Salmah Almansoori focuses more on what is being erased – abandoned places, forgotten objects, and fading traditions. By collecting fragments from these sites and transforming them into abstract yet intimate narratives, she explores themes of displacement, identity, and emotional inheritance. “This opportunity allows me to deepen my exploration of memory and place, and to share stories from my hometown that are often overlooked.”
Beyond Emerging Artists is sponsored by Abu Dhabi Art’s global partner HSBC and supported by Friends of Abu Dhabi Art, a group of philanthropists committed to supporting the art ecosystem in the UAE.
Abu Dhabi Art returns for its 17th edition from 19 to 23 November 2025, as usual at Manarat Al Saadiyat. More information here.
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