• LAST CHANCE Afra Al Dhaheri: Restless Circle

    Sharjah Art Foundation, Al Mureijah Square Sharjah

    A selection of works by Afra Al Dhaheri that explore the structural effects of tension, repetition and time provides Sharjah Art Foundation's first show of Autumn. "Working with materials such as cotton rope, fabric, cement and hair, the artist emphasises [ ... ]

    Free
  • Joke Hub

    Canopy by Hilton Dubai Al Seef Al Seef Street, Umm Hurair 1, Dubai

    A regular MadCat Comedy night – "Dubai's wildest comedy show on Saturday" (sic). The cover charge of AED 99 includes two F&B coupons.

    AED 99
  • Claire & Antho: Souvenirs

    Sharjah Arts Foundation, Arts Square Al Shuweiheen, Sharjah

    A second performance for this Perform Sharjah event. Blending physical theatre, shadow play, dance, and live video projection, the piece explores the invisible baggage we carry – memories, regrets, dreams – with cinematic beauty and quiet humour. Both playful and [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • LAST CHANCE Tim Kent: Horsepower

    JD Malat Gallery ACT 2 Tower, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Blvd 13A ,Downtown Dubai, Dubai

    A solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist Tim Kent that examines the historical and cultural significance of the horse. Working across large-scale painted interiors, landscapes, and invented worlds, Kent transforms historical reference into contemporary compositions that hover between reality and imagination; [ ... ]

    Free
  • Ali Al Sayed: Alphabet Soup

    New Covent Garden Theatre Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

    Back from an international tour, the award-winning main man of Dubomedy has a new stand-up special "packed with lightning-fast wit, sharp observations on identity, language, and the everyday absurdities of life and its many labels". Should be good.

    From AED 175
  • Radouan Mriziga: Magec / The Desert

    Sharjah Art Foundation, Bait Obaid Al Shamsi Arts Square, Sharjah

    Blending dance, sound and imagery, Mriziga crafts a meditative reflection on landscape and memory, where the desert emerges as both a physical terrain and a symbolic stage. A Sharjah Art Foundation co-production with the Kunsten festival des arts in Brussels, [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • LAST CHANCE Miramar Al Nayyar: Hujra

    Tabari Artspace Alserkal Avenue Warehouse 81, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Tabari Artspace's first exhibition at its new Alserkal Avenue location is a solo show for Miramar Al Nayyar, curated by Abeer Seikaly. In Hujra, Al Nayyar "traces how flow crystallises onto canvas, how light becomes matter, and how painting absorbs [ ... ]

    Free
  • Christmas Opera Gala

    Dubai Opera Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai

    A seasonal concert in the finest tradition of Italian Opera with three top-class voices — tenor Vittorio Grigolo, baritone Luca Salsi, soprano Alisa Medvedeva — accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan under Alibek Kabdurakhmanov. The programme features classic [ ... ]

    From AED 170
  • UAE Youth Orchestra and Choir: End of Season Celebration

    Cultural Foundation Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street, Abu Dhabi

    For their year-end concert, the Youth Orchestra and Choir deliver a selection of pieces from The Nutcracker, Bizet’s Carmen, and Carl Nielsen’s Aladdin Suite. Organized by Abu Dhabi Culture in collaboration with the International Music Institute, this concert promises a celebration [ ... ]

    AED 50
  • Silajit Ghosh: Abstract Reality

    Andakulova Gallery Unit 18, P4 Level Damac Park Towers, DIFC , Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A solo show for the noted Indian artist, whose paintings aim to explore the essence of reality rather than its literal representation. His signature use of strong colours evoke emotions rather than depictions – "his works feel like waves, each [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Richard Hearns: Threshold

    Artbooth Gallery Centro Capital Center, Al Khaleej Al Arabi Street, Abu Dhabi

    A solo exhibition by the Lebanese-Irish painter, born in Beirut and adopted into Ireland to bear a dual heritage that shapes his artistic identity. This, his first solo exhibition in the UAE, presents a new body of work that reflects [ ... ]

    Free
  • The Elf in the Gulf

    South View School Remraam, Al Thammam, Dubai

    Seasonal musical theatre fun for all the family (but mainly the kids). It's a continuation of the world created by Collab Company last year with a troupe of singers, dancers and actors; this time five rookie elves must complete their [ ... ]

    AED 100
  • LAST CHANCE Lydia Nakashima Degarrod and Susan Ossman: Projects of Art Ethnography

    NYUAD Project Space NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    This exhibition brings together works by two artist-anthropologists with practices on the boundaries between scholarship and art. Their projects invite viewers to reflect on migration, memory, identity, and the ways knowledge takes shape across bodies, materials, and stories. The exhibition [ ... ]

    Free
  • The Elf in the Gulf

    South View School Remraam, Al Thammam, Dubai

    A second round of performances for Collab Company's seasonal musical theatre fun – five rookie elves must complete their training at the Christmas Academy and Department of Elvish Training (CADET) in pursuit of their mission to bring joy to families [ ... ]

    AED 100
  • BRIDGE Summit 2025

    ADNEC Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The organisers of BRIDGE Summit 2025 says its goal is to “establish itself as a comprehensive exploration of the forces transforming global media ... Designed as a global platform for collaboration, discovery, and innovation, BRIDGE Summit 2025 will explore how [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • LAST CHANCE Tor Seidel: Riposte

    XVA Gallery Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood, Bur Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Tor Siedel explores how ‘vandalism’ by environmental activists in triptychs that consider whether these attacks can also be considered performative acts of art. He focuses on the protagonists' actionism, the shock or entertainment value for visitors, and the professional dissemination [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Prix Pictet: Storm

    Ishara Art Foundation Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Prix Pictet, founded in 2008 by the Pictet Group, is the world’s leading award for photography that draws attention to issues of global sustainability; this exhibition showcases work by 12 photographers who have been shortlisted for the eleventh cycle of [ ... ]

    Free
  • Naqsh Raj: Half Light

    XVA Gallery Al Fahidi Historical Neighborhood, Bur Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    With this exhibition Naqsh Raj “invents a personal tool for grounding and connection, balancing order with anarchy, discipline with instinct and darkness with sparks of illumination ... The repetitive expression in her work hints at a longing for predictability, while [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Whispers of Play

    Volery Gallery Maze Tower - 5201, Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai

    A group show for three young Japanese artists that celebrates the playful sensibility at the heart of contemporary Japanese expression – "a sensibility that transforms familiarity into wonder, nostalgia into dream" as the gallery has it. These artists have used [ ... ]

    Free
  • The Nutcracker

    Dubai Opera

    Tchaikovsky’s all-time seasonal favourite is a Dubai Opera staple for the time of year, delivered on this occasion by the Astrakhan Theater Opera and Ballet – one of the newer Russian classical companies, but one with a decent reputation for [ ... ]

    From AED 380
  • The Nutcracker

    Dubai Opera

    Two further performances (at 2pm and 8pm) for the seasonal favourite, delivered by the Astrakhan Theater Opera and Ballet in a suitably classical manner and of course featuring some of the best-loved music that Tchaikovsky ever wrote ... There are [ ... ]

    From AED 380
  • Tajouj: dir Gadalla Gubara (1977)

    Efiɛ Gallery 2 Al Khayat Art Avenue, First Al Khail Street, Dubai

    The first feature film to be directed by a Sudanese filmmaker, this historical romance tells of the beautiful Tajouj whose cousin publicly declares his love for her in a song. The traditions of the tribe decry such an act and [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • The Nutcracker

    Dubai Opera

    Two further performances (at 2pm and 8pm) for the seasonal favourite, delivered by the Astrakhan Theater Opera and Ballet in a suitably classical manner and of course featuring some of the best-loved music that Tchaikovsky ever wrote ... The final [ ... ]

    From AED 380
  • LAST CHANCE Hussain Jamil: Refracted Life

    Oblong Contemporary Art Gallery Al Khayat Art Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai

    In this exhibition, Jamil presents a new body of work that explores how we see ourselves — and how we are seen — in an ever-changing world. Working with hand-formed polished steel wall sculptures, woven metal mesh, and mirrored sculptural [ ... ]

    Free
  • The Nutcracker

    Dubai Opera

    The final performances (at 2pm and 8pm) of the seasonal favourite, delivered by the Astrakhan Theater Opera and Ballet in a suitably classical manner and of course featuring some of the best-loved music that Tchaikovsky ever wrote ...     [ ... ]

    From AED 380
  • LAST CHANCE Art Here 2025

    Louvre Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    The fifth edition of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here exhibition, featuring six artworks by seven artists shortlisted for the Richard Mille Art Prize, has been curated by guest curator Sophie Mayuko Arni under the theme Shadows – "exploring the [ ... ]

    General admission AED 65
  • LAST CHANCE Fereydoun Ave, Raana Farnoud, Shaqayeq Arabi: IMPROVISATIONS

    Gallery Isabelle Unit 17, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    The artists in this group show have distinct visual languages that do find commonalities: they "transform the familiar through acts of care, attention, and intuitive play ... a shared attentiveness to what is provisional, such as a line that wavers, [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Fertile Dreams

    Tabari Artspace Gate Village Level 2, DIFC, Dubai

    The group show brings together artists from the MENA region and its diaspora whose practices engage fertility as a generative force tied to questions of origin, transformation, and the cycles that govern land and self. Across drawing, painting, ceramics, textiles, [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Manar Abu Dhabi 2025

    [various Abu Dhabi locations] Abu Dhabi

    Manar Abu Dhabi returns for its second edition with the theme The Light Compass, presenting 19 newly commissioned light-based artworks by Emirati and international artists Key locations include Jubail Island, Souq Al Mina, and, for the first time, Al Ain’s [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Mohammad Alfaraj: Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty

    Jameel Arts Centre Al Jaddaf, Dubai

    The first institutional solo exhibition of Mohammad Alfaraj brings together installations, photography, video works and site-specific commissions that respond to the gardens and outdoor spaces of the Jameel. Central to Alfaraj’s practice is his use of storytelling, both in written [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Aliyah Alawadhi: Girl Parts

    Bayt AlMamzar House 2, 26 Street, Al Mamzar, Dubai

    "Childhood is a half-remembered taste: sweet, sticky, and sometimes spoiled." In Girl Parts, her first solo exhibition, Aliyah Alawadhi expresses this residue in paint – bodies shimmering in pinks and creams, mouths agape, devouring and dreaming. Says the gallery: "These [ ... ]

  • LAST CHANCE SILA: All that is Left to You

    Maraya Art Centre Al Qasba, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

    In times of adversity, especially amid the ongoing devastation in Gaza, tatreez – the ancient practice of hand-embroidery, a foundational element of Palestinian intangible heritage – becomes an act of survival and defiance. This exhibition of works by 25 artists [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Salma Dib: Marks of Return

    Aisha Alabbar Gallery Warehouse C19, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Drawing from the charged visual language of street walls in Palestine in this, her first solo exhibition in the UAE, Salma Dib transforms those surfaces of resistance into layered compositions that speak of loss, resilience, and collective memory. Her works [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Gil Heitor Cortesão: All That Is Solid

    CARBON 12 17th Street, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Gil Heitor Cortesão's fifth solo show at CARBON 12 (it is also the gallery's 100th exhibition) presents a suite of large and small works extending his investigation into the fragile perceptive systems and architectures of modernity. Working with oil on [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE By the Movement of All Things

    Lawrie Shabibi Unit 21, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    A group exhibition curated by Hamzeh Alfarahneh of South African curatorial firm Art(Advisory) and featuring works by Hamra Abbas (Pakistan), Diana Al-Hadid (Syria-USA), Timo Nasseri (Iran-Germany), and four South Africans – Igshaan Adams, Moshekwa Langa, James Webb, and Bronwyn Katz. [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE The Shape of Things to Come

    Efiɛ Gallery 2 Al Khayat Art Avenue, First Al Khail Street, Dubai

    A striking collection of artists feature in this group show, with works by El Anatsui, Iman Issa, Abdoulaye Konaté, Adam Pendleton, Yinka Shonibare and Carrie Mae Weems. Curated by Japan-based American curator Dexter Wimberly, the exhibition responds to "the shifting [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Printed Matter

    Fann à Porter The Workshop, Villa 45, St. 23b, off Al Wasl Road (opposite Box Park), Jumeirah 2, Dubai

    A group exhibition of photography and mixed media works by El3attar Film Collective – Cynthia Zahar, Georges Yammine, and Mohammad Al Hawajri. Through preserving and reconfiguring found materials, stories, and images, each artist tackles themes of memory, war, and change.

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Ali Kaaf: The Fire’s Edge 

    Ayyam Gallery B11, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Ali Kaaf’s first solo exhibition at Ayyam Gallery features his seminal body of work, the Rift series, alongside selected works from his Helmet and Ras Ras series. The Fire’s Edge evokes the fragile threshold where ancestral practices meet modern erasure [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHNACE Ali Kaaf: The Fire’s Edge

    Ayyam Gallery B11, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    The artist’s first solo show at Ayyam Gallery features Kaaf’s seminal body of work from his Rift, Helmet and Ras Ras series. The Fire’s Edge evokes the fragile threshold where ancestral practices meet modern erasure, the line between scorched earth [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Kamrooz Aram: Domestic Compositions

    Green Art Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A solo exhibition by Kamrooz Aram. The artist’s practice integrates sculpture, painting, and architecture, creating a context for viewing cultural artefacts in a way that brings them back into the present.

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Silajit Ghosh: Abstract Reality

    Andakulova Gallery Unit 18, P4 Level Damac Park Towers, DIFC , Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A solo show for the noted Indian artist, whose paintings aim to explore the essence of reality rather than its literal representation. His signature use of strong colours evoke emotions rather than depictions – "his works feel like waves, each [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Daniel Arsham: What Remains

    Perrotin Gate Village Building 5, DIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A solo show by the American artist Daniel Arsham, known for his works of 'fictional archaeology' expressed through sculpture, architecture, drawing, and film – what he calls “future relics of the present.” This exhibition marks the 24th collaboration between the [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Mohammed Joha: Houselessness

    Zawyeh Gallery Warehouse 27, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    In his latest work, Palestinian artist Mohammed Joha redefines collage as "an architecture of rupture and reassembly, both a method and a metaphor". His works bring together scraps of fabric, paper, cardboard, plastic and other salvaged materials, textures pulled from [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Besher Koushaji: Moments of Hope

    Firetti Contemporary Unit 29, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Koushaji’s exhibitions continues his exploration of memory, resilience, and the human condition with a new body of work that “reflects on a world shaped by displacement, conflict, and uncertainty, yet illuminated by fleeting moments of beauty and strength”. His signature [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Lala Rukh II: The importance of staying quiet

    Grey Noise Unit 24 Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    The first part of this series, Lala Rukh I, presented a selection of photographs from the artist’s archives during her years at the University of Chicago (1974-76). Its speculative framework helped us to stage the evolution of Lala’s photographic sensibility, [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Ala Younis: Past of a Temporal Universe

    NYUAD Art Gallery Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    This mid-career retrospective marks the first institutional survey in the region for Ala Younis. It includes archival installations, textiles, murals, mosaics, and drawings spanning the last two decades of her hybrid practice as an artist-researcher-curator. There will also be some [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire

    Louvre Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    An exhibition on the rich heritage of the Mamluk Sultanate, a dynasty that ruled a vast expanse of territory encompassing the most significant Islamic holy sites for more than 250 years (1250–1517), with more than 270 works  gatheredfrom 34 museums [ ... ]

    General admission AED 65
  • LAST CHANCE Nja Mahdaoui: the Choreographer of Letters

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    This focused retrospective surveys over six decades of practice by the Tunisian multimedia artist Nja Mahdaoui, an influential figures in Arab modern art who repurposed Arabic calligraphy into a visual and abstract contemporary art form. This show, o-curated by Michaela [ ... ]

  • LAST CHANCE Al Burda Exhibition: The Shape of Meaning

    Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    In response to the Nja Mahdaoui retrospective in the main gallery at BFAF, this exhibition presents loans from the Ministry of Culture’s Al Burda exhibitions from 2008 to 2023. Al Burda was/is an annual exhibition where contemporary artists engage with [ ... ]

    Free