• Monday Night Comedy: This Is Impro

    Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Exactly what it says: a regular Monday evening of scenes, stories and narrative improvisation influenced by audience suggestions and featuring the Courtyard Playhouse's most experienced improv performers plus guests. Classic Courtyard stuff. It's free, but you need to put your [ ... ]

    Free but donations welcome
  • Art & Music Night

    Theatre of Digital Arts Souk Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai

    An immersive evening at the Theatre of Digital Art – digitised projected art ("the masterpieces of the greatest artists of the 20th century") is accompanied live by Soren Lyng Hansen on cello, double bass and piano. He is very good, [ ... ]

    AED 150
  • Rushdi’s Comedy Souk

    Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A regular monthly evening of improv and stand-up hosted by Rushdi.

    Free, but pre-register
  • Noura Ali-Al Ramahi: Sustainable Art Awareness Project

    Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi

    The Lebanese-born Emirati artist has a number of works showing in the public areas of the Four Seasons in a collaboration between the hotel and her gallery, ArtBooth. Noura Al Ramahi has long been commited to eco-friendly art; her reflective [ ... ]

    Free
  • Nowhere And Everywhere At The Same Time No.2

    Berklee Abu Dhabi UAE Pavilion, Saadiyat ISland, Abu Dhabi

    Now this is an unexpected offering from Berklee: the revised version of William Forsythe's Nowhere And Everywhere At The Same Time, a kind of DIY performance piece that encourages you to experience space, movement, other people, the absence of other [ ... ]

    AED20
  • The Abbasid Caliph and His People: A View From the Centre

    NYUAD Campus, Conference Centre NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    This talk explores the conventional representations of the Abbasid dynasty, highlighting its perceived trajectory from its rise in the mid-eighth century to its decline in the tenth century. Letizia Osti, Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature a the University [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Wednesday Night Impro: Maestro

    Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    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 the lowest score is eliminated. Eventually only [ ... ]

    Free but donations welcome
  • Janet Bellotto: Salted Edges #islandparadise

    NYUAD Project Space NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    Janet Bellotto – artist and Professor of Visual Arts at ZU's College of Arts and Creative Enterprises– has been studying islands as both geography and metaphor for more than a decade. In Salted Edges #islandparadise she explores the concept of [ ... ]

    Free
  • Cveto Marsič: An art night

    Slovenian artist Cveto Marsič talks about his creative process and “the profound influence of color, music, and the diverse landscapes he has encountered throughout his artistic journey”. His fascination with the cultures and landscapes of Southern Europe, particularly regions like [ ... ]

  • Authentic Flamenco

    Zabeel Theatre Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Palm Jumeirah West Crescent, Dubai

    After recording success in different cities around the world (including hopefully a couple of nights in Abu Dhabi), this showcase production created by the award-winning dancer and choreographer Amador Rojas for the Royal Opera of Madrid – claimed to be [ ... ]

    From AED225
  • Candlelight Premium: Beethoven’s Best Works

    Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi

    The title of this concert certainly sets the bar high, though it seems a pretty good selection of the composer's works for piano. The pianist is Magdalena Wajdzik, and the other plus is the way these recitals are lit by [ ... ]

    From AED 200
  • Gentle Steps, Guided Words

    Emirates Literature Foundation Dar Al Adaab, Al Shindagha, Dubai

    A meditative walk followed by a writing workshop, organised by the Emirates Literature Foundation and dedicated to Emirates Red Crescent's Tarahum – for Gaza campaign. The start and end point is the ELF office in Al Shindagha; sign up for [ ... ]

  • Emirates Community Symphonic Orchestra

    Lycée Français Jean Mermoz de Dubai Al Quoz 1, Dubai

    The first of two Autumn concerts by the explicitly named and highly commendable Emirates Community Symphonic Orchestra under the baton of Jonathon Grover. The programme includes pieces by Bizet, Delius, Schubert and George Butterworth. The latter is an English composer [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Authentic Flamenco

    Zabeel Theatre Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Palm Jumeirah West Crescent, Dubai

    Two final performances for this showcase production created by the award-winning dancer and choreographer Amador Rojas for the Royal Opera of Madrid. This compilation of traditional flamenco features Paula Rodríguez, a noted artist with a complete education in classical, contemporary [ ... ]

    From AED225
  • Wissam Shawkat: Black & White

    Mestaria Gallery Unit 35, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Monochrome works at reduced scale from one of the masters of modern calligraphic art. In this show there are 111 in total, all in his characteristic calligraphy styles including Al Wissam and Calligraforms. "It feels to me a universal truth [ ... ]

    Free
  • Global Notes: Laura Mekhail & Amira Fouad

    Dubai Opera Studio Downtown Dubai, Dubai

    The Egyptian soprano Laura Mekhail, the first Arab recipient of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation /  Community Jameel Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music, is accompanied for this Global Notes evening by Amira Fouad on piano in a [ ... ]

    AED 265
  • Ali Sethi

    Dubai Opera

    Blending traditional South Asian melodies with global beats, Sethi’s soulful voice and adept performance style promises “a musical journey that transcends borders and resonates with the heart”. Time magazine has praised him for showing that “differences of culture, language, religion, [ ... ]

    From AED 185
  • Emirates Community Symphonic Orchestra

    Dwight School Dubai Dubai Sports City, Dubai

    The second of two Autumn concerts by the Emirates Community Symphonic Orchestra under the baton of Jonathon Grover. The programme includes pieces by Bizet, Delius, Schubert and George Butterworth. Entrance is free, but you need to prebook a seat by [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Diwali Special: Bollywood Improvised

    Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Improv with a Bollywood twist – "a spicy mix of star-crossed lovers, angry parents, long-lost relatives and villainous siblings, all created on the spot by our improvisors and starring a member of the audience". As usual it's free, but you [ ... ]

    Free but donations welcome
  • Diwali Special: Bollywood Improvised

    Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Improv with a Bollywood twist – "a spicy mix of star-crossed lovers, angry parents, long-lost relatives and villainous siblings, all created on the spot by our improvisors and starring a member of the audience". As usual it's free, but you [ ... ]

    Free but donations welcome
  • Philip Mueller: The Black Flags of Medea

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

    Another excursion through the worlds of one of Carbon 12's stars.  It's a gathering of old and new people from paintings past, featuring the Black Flamingo Sad Boys and the Naxos Racing Team; the work marks a fundamental stage in [ ... ]

    Free
  • Afra Al Dhaheri: Give Your Weight to the Ground

    Green Art Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Working across various mediums including mixed media, sculpture, drawing, painting, installation, photography, and printmaking, Afra Al Dhaheri draws out notions of time and adaptation, rigour and fragility. Born in Abu Dhabi, where she still lives and works, Al Dhaheri has [ ... ]

    Free
  • Roshanak Aminelahi: Faces of Resilience

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

    The second solo exhibition for Roshanak Aminelahi at Ayyam Gallery (the first was way back in 2017) illuminates the stories of women who navigated a male-dominated society and persevered through adversity. The selected women come from diverse backgrounds, spanning different [ ... ]

    Free
  • Lubna Chowdhary: Disjunctions

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

    A solo exhibition from an always interesting artist that foregrounds her distinctive disruption of material, of tradition, of expectations. Clay and ceramics constitute her principal media, but she uses them to explore tensions between the handmade and the industrial, the [ ... ]

    Free
  • Nima Nabavi and Jason Seife: Duality

    The Third Line Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    New works by two artists working together in symbiosis – pairings of canvases that are mixed and matched (the precise dimensions of each canvas are the same) but not exact: the works are cousins, not siblings. Geometry was the common [ ... ]

    Free
  • I Can No Longer Produce the Limits of My Own Body

    NIKA Project Space Unit 11 Al Khayat Avenue, 19th Street Road — Al Quoz 1, Dubai

    The fourth exhibition at NIKA Project Space is a group show for seven artists highlighting ecofeminist perspectives, curated by Nadine Khalil and featuring work by Liane Al Ghusain, Lilia Ziamou, Dalia Khalife, Sara Niroobakhsh, Mirna Bamieh with Isaac Sullivan, and [ ... ]

  • Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design

    Louvre Abu Dhabi Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

    This exhibition highlights the influence of the Islamic arts on design at the luxury goods brand from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Co-curated by Évelyne Possémé, Former Chief Curator of Ancient and Modern Jewellery at the [ ... ]

    AED 63
  • Abdulrahim Salim: Muheera & I

    Aisha Alabbar Gallery Warehouse C19, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Abdulrahim Salim’s first solo exhibition with the gallery presents a collection that spans two decades of his career, including figurative drawings, paper collages, and  abstract paintings. Central to his artistic vision is the enduring influence of folklore and the character [ ... ]

  • Wednesday Night Impro: Maestro

    Courtyard Playhouse Street 4B, Al Quoz 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    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 the lowest score is eliminated. Eventually only [ ... ]

    Free but donations welcome
  • Walid Siti: Fragile Construct

    Meem Gallery Umm Suqeim Rd, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Two towers loom large in Walid Siti’s artwork, one manmade – the 9th century Malwiya minaret of Samarra, encompassing both the hubris of political power and the genius of an unknown architect; and the mountains of his native Kurdistan, formed [ ... ]

    Free
  • Miwa Matreyek: This World Made Itself / I Infinitely Yours

    The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Two works featuring Miwa Matreyek's signature projected animations and shadow silhouettes, both combining surreal and poetic narratives to depict the conflict between humans and nature. Matreyek is an animator, designer, and performer who creates live, staged performances where she interacts [ ... ]

    AED 105
  • The Fridge Open Mic

    The Fridge Warehouse Warehouse 5, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Open to all singers, musicians, instrumentalists and performers -- register from 6.30pm on the night, and it's first come first served. We thinks it's free for performers and audience ...

    Free
  • Beyond the city – Chapter 1

    kanvas Dubai Unit 1, Al Khayat Art Avenue, 19th Street Al Quoz 1, Dubai

    An “unseen collaboration” between local art gallery/consultancy kanvas and the French female artist collective Féminin Pluriel, where “the physical artworks of 10 artists will be immersed into the digital world of kanvas” to offer "a vision of opposition between the [ ... ]

    Free
  • Miwa Matreyek: This World Made Itself / I Infinitely Yours

    The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    A second performance of these two works featuring Miwa Matreyek's signature projected animations and shadow silhouettes, both combining surreal and poetic narratives to depict the conflict between humans and nature. Matreyek is an animator, designer, and performer who creates live, [ ... ]

  • Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)

    Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)
    The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Gaby Milky writes and directs this "musical-ish satire", first seen back in 2017. The king of Blinktonasia is imposing a strict regime that requires eradication of the clowns, the threat to his monarchy; so he orders the Professor to devise [ ... ]

    AED 120
  • Crossbones Trombones Ensemble

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

    Now this should be a lot of fun. The ensemble (usually five trombones, generally unaccompanied) are a group of young and driven Belgian musicians whose repertoire mixes classical and jazz styles infused with cinematic and pop elements. The short gig, [ ... ]

    AED 75
  • Rooftop Rhythms: The Sustainability Edition – Open Mic Night

    Marketplace, NYUAD Campus Abu Dhabi

    The Middle East’s longest-running poetry (and other performance) open mic event always features culturally-diverse voices with a lineup that includes spoken word artists, poets, and musicians presenting original material, typically on a first-come first-served basis (sign up by emailing info@rooftoprhythms.org) [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Laughter Factory: ‘The Good, the Bad and the Filthy’ Tour

    Mövenpick Hotel JBR Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    This month's standups are Kate Barron from Canada ("after a lifetime of being told she is too big, too loud and too vulgar, by everyone from strangers to teachers, she decided to step on stage and start wearing those labels [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • Gavin Jantjes: To Be Free! A Retrospective (1970–2023)

    Al Mureijah Square Sharjah

    Jantjes is recognised as a creative activist, artist, curator and critical thinker, furthering the discourses and representation of African and African diaspora art. The largest solo presentation of the artist to date, this retrospective for the UK-based South African artist [ ... ]

    Free
  • Miwa Matreyek: This World Made Itself / I Infinitely Yours

    The Arts Center @ NYUAD NYUAD Campus, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The final two performances of these two works featuring Miwa Matreyek's signature projected animations and shadow silhouettes, both combining surreal and poetic narratives to depict the conflict between humans and nature. Matreyek is an animator, designer, and performer who creates [ ... ]

  • Dreamscape

    Total Arts at the Courtyard Al Quoz, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    From the press release: Dreamscape is "an immersive installation honouring the nurturing power of our Earth and emphasising the reverence it deserves as a sacred element of our existence. A sensory experience that seeks to bridge the intangible space between [ ... ]

    Free
  • Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)

    Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)
    The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Gaby Milky writes and directs this "musical-ish satire", first seen back in 2017. The king of Blinktonasia is imposing a strict regime that requires eradication of the clowns, the threat to his monarchy; so he orders the Professor to devise [ ... ]

    AED 120
  • Laughter Factory: ‘The Good, the Bad and the Filthy’ Tour

    Mövenpick Hotel JBR Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A second night at the Mövenpick for Kate Barron from Canada ("after a lifetime of being told she is too big, too loud and too vulgar, by everyone from strangers to teachers, she decided to step on stage and start [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • Hazem Harb: Dystopia is not a Noun

    Warehouse 58 Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Charcoal on paper holds profound significance for long-time Alserkal Avenue collaborator Hazem Harb – the black carbon dust echoes that which now settles in Gaza, his home. In this ‘intervention’ he’s returning to the medium after ten years; “combining elements [ ... ]

    Free
  • Al Ain Book Festival 2023

    Hazza bin Zayed Stadium Al Ain

    The 14th edition of the former Al Ain Book Fair, organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre under the theme All Eyes on Al Ain, is open 9am to 10pm from 19 to 25 November. It celebrates literature with [ ... ]

    Free
  • Fahd Burki

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

    To 3 February  

    Free
  • Abu Dhabi Art

    Abu Dhabi Art
    Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The fifteenth edition of Abu Dhabi Art, which runs 22-26 November 2023, will once again be the largest yet – there will be 92 gallery booths (a few galleries are in more than one section). They include 37 new and [ ... ]

    Free
  • Acoustic Sundays

    The Fridge Warehouse Warehouse 5, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    A pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon: chilled Latin beats by Jose Ramon on piano, zero alcohol cocktails from TVM @ The Fridge ...

    Free
  • Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)

    Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns)
    The Junction Unit H72, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Gaby Milky writes and directs this "musical-ish satire", first seen back in 2017. The king of Blinktonasia is imposing a strict regime that requires eradication of the clowns, the threat to his monarchy; so he orders the Professor to devise [ ... ]

    AED 120
  • Aida Garifullina: Opera Gala

    Dubai Opera

    The star Russian lyric soprano Aida Garifullina performs a programme that ranges across iconic arias from the classic Italian and Russian operas but also includes crossover hits. She's accompanied by the Northern Sinfonia under conductor Fabio Mastrangelo.

    from AED 350