
Events

Short+Sweet Dubai: weekend three
New Covent Garden Theatre Mall of the Emirates, DubaiThird weekend of the festival of 10-minute plays – each of the S+S Dubai weekends (9-10 May is a break) features afternoon and evening sessions for 10 plays, meaning you could see something around 80 microplays if you attended all [ ... ]
AED 100 – AED 120X Fest DXB: weekend 3
The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe third weekend for the Junction's short play festival: each weekend features 10 to 11 original 10-minute plays, meaning audiences will get the chance to see a diverse lineup of stories, styles and performances in a single evening. This weekend [ ... ]
AED 120
Enrico Macias
Dubai OperaClassics from an icon of Francophone music, whose songs from a career of six decades seem filled with warmth, nostalgia, and humanity ... This performance may be one of his last international appearances, too.
From AED 295Short+Sweet Dubai: weekend three
New Covent Garden Theatre Mall of the Emirates, DubaiSecond day of the third weekend of the festival of 10-minute plays – each of the S+S Dubai weekends (9-10 May is a break) features afternoon and evening sessions for 10 plays, meaning you could see something around 80 microplays [ ... ]
AED 100 – AED 120LAST CHANCE Ahaad Alamoudi: Sunkissed
Al Mureijah Square SharjahAlamoudi’s snapshots of contemporary Khaleeji aesthetics playfully capture the give-and-take between developmental goals and their real-world manifestation. Viral memes, talking falcons, automated toy cars and insect light traps all function as tools to process accelerating change; together, these works explore [ ... ]
FreeX Fest DXB: weekend 3
The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe third weekend for the Junction's short play festival: each weekend features 10 to 11 original 10-minute plays, meaning audiences will get the chance to see a diverse lineup of stories, styles and performances in a single evening. This weekend [ ... ]
AED 120
Denis Matsuev
Dubai OperaOne of the outstanding pianists of the 21st century is back in Dubai with a concert that is sure to showcase his virtuosity (the orchestra gets second billing, for instance – it's the Academy of Russian Music Symphony Orchestra under [ ... ]
From AED 350Supermarket
Foundry Downtown Boulevard Crescent, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, DubaiA great idea from Foundry Downtown – a group exhibition featuring artists based in the UAE who are not (currently) represented by galleries. The organisers describe it as “for the first time, a selling exhibition structured around accessibility, discovery, and [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Douglas White: The Great Wave
Leila Heller Gallery Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThroughout his practice, White approaches sculpture as a kind of material alchemy – discarded substances are reworked forms that appear uncannily animate: industrial debris becomes wave, tree, or cosmic surface, revealing unexpected continuities between natural forces and technological systems. Two [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Mulhaq: On Annexed Architecture and Peripheral Typologies
Bayt AlMamzar House 2, 26 Street, Al Mamzar, DubaiThis exhibition explores the quiet logic of annexed spaces and the peripheral architectures that shape everyday life across the Gulf. Through documentation, case studies, and spatial narratives, it reflects on how these overlooked structures mediate between privacy, family, and urban [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Aïda Muluneh: This Bloom I Borrow
Efiɛ Gallery 2 Al Khayat Art Avenue, First Al Khail Street, DubaiA new series of images by the Ethiopian art photographer, her second solo exhibition at the gallery. The show includes 10 works that have never been seen before. Muluneh has been a distinctive voice in contemporary photography throughout her 25-year [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Nihad Al Turk: Creatures of Hope
Ayyam Gallery B11, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesWithout formal art schooling, Nihad Al Turk has developed a distinctive visual language that blends colours, forms, and patterns, "preserving his naïve sensibility while conveying his philosophical outlook and artistic vision". His paintings typically feature anthropomorphic shapes and figures, a [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Unfixed ground
Lawrie Shabibi Unit 21, Alserkal Avenue, DubaiA group exhibition that approaches 'ground' as "something continuously produced: fractured, inscribed, and held in tension between erasure and persistence ..." The first of two spaces has works by Mandy El Sayegh, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Omar El Gurg, and Rand [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE The importance of staying quiet: Fahd Burki II.a
Grey Noise Unit 24 Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesIn 2014, an exhibition was held in Hong Kong under the title The importance of staying quiet; conceived by Saira Ansari and Umer Butt, it was an attempt to find a minimal vocabulary within Pakistani art. A decade later, The [ ... ]
FreeX Fest DXB: weekend 4
The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe fourth weekend for the Junction's short play festival: each weekend features 10 to 11 original 10-minute plays, meaning audiences will get the chance to see a diverse lineup of stories, styles and performances in a single evening. Overall you [ ... ]
AED 150Season Special: Mini Maestro
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesYoung performers take the stage for a mini version of Keith Johnstone’s competitive improv format with scenes, songs, and games inspired by audience suggestions. Performers are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 after each round; the player with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Khozema Al-Aaed: We Walk on Stories
Firetti Contemporary Unit 29, Alserkal Avenue, DubaiKhozema Al‑Aaed's solo exhibition reimagines cartographies, reminding us that land absorbs our movements, our wounds, our hopes, "becoming a living archive of human presence" as the gallery puts it. "The compositions resemble traces of cities once inhabited, imagined, or departed. [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Robert Powers: The City in Its Details – The Past and Future in Dubai’s Architecture
Kutubna Cultural Center Madina Avenues 17, Nadd Al Hamar, DubaiA close look at Dubai’s urban fabric through the lens of architect and photographer Robert Powers. The exhibition traces the patterns and repetitions in architecture, streetscapes, industry, and infrastructure that shapes the character of a city; taken between 2013 and [ ... ]
FreeX Fest DXB: weekend 4
The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe fourth weekend for the Junction's short play festival: each weekend features 10 to 11 original 10-minute plays, meaning audiences will get the chance to see a diverse lineup of stories, styles and performances in a single evening. Overall you [ ... ]
AED 150
Art Seeding Festival: Al Khayat Chapter
Al Khayat Avenue 10 19 Street, Al Quoz, DubaiAn interesting concept: "art can be 'seeded' into the urban environment, where it evolves over time through interaction with people, space, and context ... Rather than presenting finished works within gallery walls, the festival invites artists to engage directly with [ ... ]
FreeWednesday Night Impro: Maestro
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe Courtyard's popular evening of elimination improv. Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE All at Once
JD Malat Gallery ACT 2 Tower, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Blvd 13A ,Downtown Dubai, DubaiA group exhibition that reflects on continuity, resilience, and quiet optimism at a time when the world can feel uncertain. Says the gallery: "All at Once speaks to the coexistence of multiple realities – personal and shared, fleeting and enduring, [ ... ]
FreeShort+Sweet Dubai: People’s Choice Semi-Finals
New Covent Garden Theatre Mall of the Emirates, DubaiThe semi finals weekend of the festival of 10-minute plays, today being for the People's Choices. The best playlets will return to compete for the top prizes on the Gala Weekend, 23-24 May. Times, dates, prices: 3.00-5.00pm 16 May AED [ ... ]
AED 150Short+Sweet Dubai: Judge’s Choice Semi-Finals
New Covent Garden Theatre Mall of the Emirates, DubaiThe semi finals weekend of the festival of 10-minute plays, today being for the Judge's Choices. The best playlets will return to compete for the top prizes on the Gala Weekend, 23-24 May. Times, dates, prices: 3.00-5.00pm 17 May AED 150 [ ... ]
AED 150LAST CHANCE Maggie Otieno: Sojourner – The Difference Is the Same
Efiɛ Gallery 2 Al Khayat Art Avenue, First Al Khail Street, DubaiOtieno’s first solo presentation with Efie centres on her signature transformation of reclaimed and distressed materials. Working across wood, metal, and mixed media, her semi-abstract forms explore layered narratives of history, memory, human interaction, and environmental survival.
FreeX Fest DXB: weekend 4
The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe penultimate weekend for the Junction's short play festival: if you've been attending all performances, you could have seen something like 70 original 10-minute plays by now ... The strongest return to the stage to compete for the top honours [ ... ]
AED 150X Fest DXB: weekend 4
The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe penultimate weekend for the Junction's short play festival: if you've been attending all performances, you could have seen something like 70 original 10-minute plays by now ... The strongest return to the stage to compete for the top honours [ ... ]
AED 150LAST CHANCE Collector’s Entry Point
Fann à Porter The Workshop, Villa 45, St. 23b, off Al Wasl Road (opposite Box Park), Jumeirah 2, DubaiA group show of works by emerging, mid-career and established artists priced at $3,000 and below, conceived as an accessible entry into collecting "whether you’re just starting or looking to expand your collection with thoughtful additions". The artists: Ahmad Kasha [ ... ]
FreeWednesday Night Impro: Maestro
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe Courtyard's popular evening of elimination improv. Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Anthony Akinbola: Get Well Soon
CARBON 12 17th Street, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesDurags are stretchable fabrics worn over the head to shape and protect the hair; in Akinbola’s practice, they are both culturally loaded objects and a material he can reconfigure. For this solo show, Akinbola assembles durags into compositions that are [ ... ]
FreeWednesday Night Impro: Maestro
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe Courtyard's popular evening of elimination improv. Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Of Land and Water: Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection
Kalba Ice Factory Al Gurm, Kalba, SharjahHow do borders and ideologies attempt to contain open stretches of land and water, and segregate those who inhabit them? What ties us to a place, and what severs us from it? Which ways of living and knowledge can move [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Constructing the Orient: Fragments of a Western Dream
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu DhabiDrawn from the private collection of Bassam Said Freiha plus key loans from the Ary Jan Gallery, this exhibition of Orientalist works unfolds across five thematic sections, each focusing on a central motif within Orientalist visual language and examining how [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Picasso, the Figure
Louvre Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island, Abu DhabiA landmark monographic exhibition that traces Picasso’s lifelong preoccupation with the human form. Included are more than 130 artworks from the Musée National Picasso-Paris and other institutions, as well as Louvre Abu Dhabi, DCT Abu Dhabi, and other regional collections [ ... ]
General admission AED 70LAST CHANCE Reflections: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Villain Collection
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation Cultural District Saadiyat Island, Abu DhabiModern and contemporary works from Syria, Lebanon, North Africa, and the UAE selected from the private collection of Fairouz and Jean-Paul Villain – a pair of collectors for whom the acquisition of works has been a way of engaging with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Sara Naim: From the Perspective of Language
The Third Line Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesSara Naim’s fourth solo show at the gallery is also her first public exhibition of paintings, large-scale works produced between 2023 and 2026 that move between figuration and abstraction. The exhibition is accompanied by a new video performance, Mother Practices [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Bashar Khalaf: The Field of Dreams
Zawyeh Gallery Warehouse 27, Alserkal Avenue, DubaiKhalaf explores the relationship between self, object, and other through a focus on 'steel' in public spaces: The Field of Dreams, or "dreams as minefields", remind us of the modern structures of unbridled capitalism and the transformative domination of life. [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE All the Lands from Sunrise to Sunset
Green Art Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates"All the lands from sunrise to sunset", a phrase attributed to the Mesopotamian king Sargon of Akkad, graphically invoked his claim to total dominion. Taking this assertion as both point of departure and provocation, this exhibition includes works by Alla [ ... ]
FreeMonday Night Comedy: This Is Impro / Film Noir Improvised
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesA two-act evening of spontaneous scenes and songs based on audience suggestions, by some of our most experienced players and guests. After warming up with some fun games and scenes, the improvisers bring the 1950’s Film Noir genre to life [ ... ]
FreeWednesday Night Impro: Maestro
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe Courtyard's popular evening of elimination improv. Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Jorge Tacla: Time the destroyer is time the preserver
Al Mureijah Square SharjahWhile Jorge Tacla was only an adolescent during the 1973 coup against Chile’s democratically-elected socialist president Salvador Allende, the upheaval left an irrevocable mark on his politics and practice. Titled after a line from a TS Eliot poem, Tacla’s "most [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE All Manner of Experiments: Legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group
NYUAD Art Gallery Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesCurated by Nada Shabout of NYUAD's al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, this exhibition investigates and celebrates the work and influence of one of the most important art movement of the mid-Century Middle East. Dr Shabout brings [ ... ]
FreeThe Jazz Room: A Journey to the Heart of New Orleans
Belcanto Restaurant, Dubai Opera Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Blvd, Downtown Dubai, DubaiNew Orleans jazz – ragtime, blues, brass – in an intimate, street-style bar setting. Shows last about an hour, and there are performances at 6.30pm and 9pm. Note that there's a AED 150 minimum spend on food and/or beverages in [ ... ]
From AED 140Monday Night Comedy: This Is Impro / Film Noir Improvised
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesA two-act evening of spontaneous scenes and songs based on audience suggestions, by some of our most experienced players and guests. After warming up with some fun games and scenes, the improvisers bring the 1950’s Film Noir genre to life [ ... ]
FreeWednesday Night Impro: Maestro
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe Courtyard's popular evening of elimination improv. Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Urdu Worlds
Ishara Art Foundation Alserkal Avenue, DubaiA contemporary art exhibition dedicated to the Urdu language: according to Ishara, "the show explores how language provides the tools with which we create and shape our internal ‘worlds’. Words, rather than simply describing our surroundings, give rise to our [ ... ]
FreeMonday Night Comedy: This Is Impro / Film Noir Improvised
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesA two-act evening of spontaneous scenes and songs based on audience suggestions, by some of our most experienced players and guests. After warming up with some fun games and scenes, the improvisers bring the 1950’s Film Noir genre to life [ ... ]
FreeWednesday Night Impro: Maestro
Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab EmiratesThe Courtyard's popular evening of elimination improv. Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with [ ... ]
FreeLAST CHANCE Samar Hejazi: In Circulation
Aisha Alabbar Gallery Warehouse C19, Alserkal Avenue, DubaiFor her first solo exhibition in the UAE, curated by Nadine Khoury, Samar Hejazi presents a body of work that explores how forms shift, unravel, and reassemble over time. Working across textile, printmaking, and spatial intervention, her practice suggests that [ ... ]
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