Reel Palestine returns to Cinema Akil for its 12th edition, running from 23 January to 1 February,. The programme this year has 29 screenings, including two Academy Award–nominated titles, reflecting the breadth of contemporary Palestinian cinema across fiction, documentary, and [ ... ]
One of the best films about Picasso, a documentary that captures his creative process by using novel filming techniques. The artist produced around 20 drawings and paintings specifically for the film, using inks and paints that bled through the paper, [ ... ]
A second performance for this funny, clever, humane, and ultimately entertaining show, improvised by James Scarr and accompanied live by Paul Jones (who also wrote the music). “A stranger, completely created using audience suggestions, is imaginatively painted onto a mannequin. [ ... ]
MadCat Comedy's regular standup night at Xandros in Signature 1 Hotel, TECOM. The cover charge of AED 80 includes one drink.
The Tasty Biscuits bring three years of soul and living-room setups to the stage, with a soulful, intimate showcase of original music and a guest roster that provides a who's-who of indie music in the UAE – Gaya, Abri, Tac, [ ... ]
A flamenco ballet, inspired by Shakespeare’s tragedy and featuring more than 30 artists in total — dancers, orchestra, choir — under the direction of Spanish choreographer Jesús Herrera. It should be an interesting interpretation of the play: “movement replaces words [ ... ]
More than 30 new paintings, offering a comprehensive survey of the artist’s recent work. This show approaches ancestry as a living presence rather than a distant past, reflecting on civilizations whose surviving traces – clay tablets, systems of law and [ ... ]
Quoz Arts Fest returns to Alserkal Avenue on 24 and 25 January with a mix of experimental art installations, live music, exhibitions, “food experiences”, and “encounters designed for all ages”. Basmah El Bittar, Director of Alserkal Avenue, reckons the 2026 [ ... ]
A joyful lesson in theatre and a tribute to the theatrical talent of Italians for connecting to anyone, transcending language barriers. Set partly in English and partly in Italian (and without subtitles), the show ironically demolishes preconceived notions of the [ ... ]
Two blokes and a Foley artist deliver a high-energy shot-for-shot parody of the iconic 90s film Jurassic Park, playing all the key characters (including most of the dinosaurs). Token low-budget costumes combined with the actors’ slick physicality, vocal creativity and [ ... ]
A journey in 360° space through the worlds created by Hayao Miyazaki & Joe Hisaishi with the Armenian pianist Gayane Aslanyan. "In 60 minutes, she will transport you to a realm of wonder and fantasy where imagination knows no bounds [ ... ]
This year’s film programme as part of the Jameel’s Night School 2026 has five shorts exploring how neighbourhoods and other places endure over time. through ways of property markets, political erasure, and the whim of human interest. The screening will [ ... ]
An irreverent high-energy high-physicality parody of Lord of the Rings (the film rather than the novel, in fact). Intricate Foley work is matched by the sheer skill of the actors and the increasingly manic complexity of the situations – the [ ... ]
The UAENO's inaugural concert series, the first with its full ensemble of 70 musicians and 30 choir, includes six dates around the Emirates in January with variations in the programme (though all include Nadim Tarabay's specially commissioned symphony The Beginning) [ ... ]
The UAE premiere of Annemarie Jacir’s full-length historical drama, shortlisted for this year’s Academy Awards and one of the two films selected for the inaugural Sharjah Film Platform Feature Fund. As villages across Palestine rise against British colonial rule in [ ... ]
A regular MadCat Comedy night – "Dubai's wildest comedy show on Saturday" (sic). The cover charge of AED 99 includes two F&B coupons.
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 [ ... ]
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 [ ... ]
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 [ ... ]
Now this sounds like a lot of fun – an immersive hi-tech retelling of the story of the Mahabharata epic hero Karn. Raised in a humble village, unaware of his noble birth, a stable boy among princes, Karn’s journey leads [ ... ]
The second performance for this joyful lesson in how theatre can transcend language barriers. An actress receives a student for a private drama lesson in her apartment; he is eager to learn the tricks of the trade, she is thrilled [ ... ]
The second performance for this irreverent high-energy high-physicality parody of Lord of the Rings (the film rather than the novel, in fact). Intricate Foley work is matched by the sheer skill of the actors and the increasingly manic complexity of [ ... ]
The second performance for this affectionate high-energy shot-for-shot parody of the iconic 90s film Jurassic Park, with two blokes and a Foley artist delivering all the key characters (including most of the dinosaurs). Token low-budget costumes combined with the actors’ [ ... ]
This NYUAD Institute talk considers how artworks operate across different contexts, from museums and galleries to public spaces and digital circulation. Drawing on over 15 years of experience, Bahia Shehab reflects on how audience engagement shifts when art is encountered [ ... ]
This exhibition is described by the gallery as “a visual dialogue, suspended between Occidental heritage and Oriental sensibilities” and “rooted in the belief that love is a direct conduit to the Divine – a state that dissolves societal constructs and [ ... ]
Based in New York, Alkadhi has academic degrees in art, engineering, and design – and as a result brings a multidisciplinary approach to a practice that engages with the cultural and political realities of global and Middle Eastern events. This [ ... ]
Rooted in Indo-Persian mythology, Ancestral Algorithms feature a series of drawings, paintings, and sculptural works that merge organic and mechanical forms to reimagine the legendary Talking Tree (Derakht-e Sokhangoo) – a mythical being that could speak, listen, and connect the [ ... ]
The regular Alliance Française ciné-apéro evening (a glass of wine and canapés before the screening) this month features this well-reviewed legal drama film starring Daniel Auteul, who also co-wrote and directed it. Jean Monier is a disillusioned lawyer, appointed to [ ... ]
MadCat’s standup team at its regular stop in the Easy Tiger bar in Abu Dhabi's Al Ain Palace. The door price of AED 99 includes two drinks ...
Architect and author Khaled Adham traces the personal and familial impulses that have shaped the Mohandiseen district in Cairo. His research focuses on how late capitalism shaped Cairo’s urban and physical transformations, with particular attention to housing and urbanisation of [ ... ]
The 10th edition of the Xposure International Photography Festival features a wide-ranging agenda featuring 95 exhibitions, 3,200 artworks, and more than 570 events – among them 126 talks and panel discussions, 72 workshops, and 280 portfolio review sessions. There’s also [ ... ]
The Arts Center's mini-Womad for artists who mix modern/Western ideas with traditional/regional styles returns with three good-looking acts (each of whom will play for about an hour, which makes the door price a bit of a bargain). Yasmine Hamdan (above) [ ... ]
The final performance in the UAENO's inaugural concert series, the first with its full ensemble of 70 musicians and 30 choir. The programme: Alexander Borodin Prince Igor – Polovtsian Dances (arr Shakir Hassan) Ercan Saatçi Alisamadim for Qanun and Orchestra [ ... ]
MadCat Comedy's regular stop in Silicon Oasis promises "insane laughs every week". The door price of AED 99 includes two drinks.
Dubomedy is bringing its Friday Night Comedy format to Abu Dhabi, specifically a new standup venue at Surf Abu Dhabi's Nalu restaurant on Al Hudayriyat. The Dubai original at Social Distrikt has become a staple of the city’s live entertainment [ ... ]
“Bold, dazzling, and unapologetically fun ... jazz standards and iconic pop hits reimagined into sultry, high-voltage showpieces”. Olesia Glants has a great voice and real stage presence, so this should be a good gig.
What exactly is 'art'? Yasmina Reza's cult comedy classic uses that as the starting point for a caustic examination of the potentially fragile architecture of friendship. One of the three friends has just bought a very expensive painting – it's [ ... ]
MadCat Comedy's regular standup night at Xandros in Signature 1 Hotel, TECOM. The cover charge of AED 80 includes one drink.
The now-regular Friday and Saturday dates for late-evening jazz at Dubai Opera's studio appears to be settling into a fine groove. This time it's the Egyptian pianist and composer, one of the Middle East's most distinctive jazz artists, leading a [ ... ]
This first solo exhibition in the Middle East for the SF-based Libyan-Yurok artist takes its title from a poem by Joy Harjo, which considers cycles of transformation across land, water, and time, moving from submerged environments to human settlement and industrial [ ... ]
For the next event in its SAT03 public programme, Sharjah Architecture Triennial presents a conversation on reimagining the city and the possibilities of architecture beyond its conventional boundaries. Led by Vyjayanthi Rao and Tau Tavengwa, Curator and Associate Curator of [ ... ]
The Ukrainian pianist and composer (multiple awards, six studio albums, performances around the world) is back at the Fridge with a new show: working between two grand pianos, he performs pieces that explore the wonder of childhood and the vast [ ... ]
Yasmina Reza's cult comedy classic uses three friends' reactions to an expensive all-white painting to examine the dynamics of friendship. Spoiler alert: it's not really about art per se – the white painting is just the catalyst, but it does [ ... ]
A regular MadCat Comedy night – "Dubai's wildest comedy show on Saturday" (sic). The cover charge of AED 99 includes two F&B coupons.
Tona is Cuban trumpeter Tonatiut Isidron, well known to Dubai audiences. With his friends he makes up a high-energy quartet that delivers a fusion of classic jazz with modern improvisation. Should be good, even at this slightly elevated price (which [ ... ]
Yasmina Reza's cult comedy classic uses three friends' reactions to an expensive all-white painting to examine the dynamics of friendship. Spoiler alert: it's not really about art per se – the white painting is just the catalyst, but it does [ ... ]
A student-curated exhibition developed by students from the American University of Sharjah under the mentorship of Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, Founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, and drawing on works from Barjeel’s noted collection of modern and contemporary Arab [ ... ]
The third Mini Festival promises to transform 25hours Hotel One Central into a vibrant hub for alternative music, creativity, and community – six rooms, live bands, DJs and vinyl selectors, workshops and talks, film screenings, a record fair, and a [ ... ]
Dubomedy's standup night at Social Distrikt returns. This has become a bit of a fixture: good vibes, good comedy, and "you never know who will pop in". Recommended. It's free, but it's popular, so pre-booking is recommended to get a [ ... ]
Known for his dramatic performances, an edgy take on classical crossover, and roguish good looks, the young Serbian piano virtuoso infuses classical music with dance beats while (mostly) keeping his intricate playing to the fore in his arrangements. Mrvica definitely [ ... ]
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