February's Reading Village selection is a beefy one – Kiran Desai's The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, described by the organisers as "sprawling, layered, and unapologetically thick" and shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize. Meet at the excellent Batliwala & [ ... ]
We came late to Yash Bhardwaj's Flamingo Live comedy club, which we now regret: the man himself is a mainstay of the Dubai comedy scene (appearing this month with the Laughter factory tour), the acts are generally good, and this [ ... ]
MadCat Comedy's regular stop in Silicon Oasis promises "insane laughs every week", with a Ramadan-friendly later-than-usual start. The door price of AED 99 includes one drink and popcorn.
Founded by Emirati filmmaker and curator Nawaf Al Janahi in 2020, Cineolio‘s mission is focused on promoting short films and expanding their audience reach internationally. Its Cinenights screening series presents a diverse selection of short films on the big screen, [ ... ]
Post-iftar comedy with the MadCat crew – which in this case means Luca Capani, Roxy Yekta, Denise Alexe, Ahmed Kasid and MadCat's main man Miqdaad D. The AED 75 per person door price is redeemable on F&B at AMG Kaffeehaus. [ ... ]
MadCat Comedy's regular standup night at Xandros in Signature 1 Hotel, TECOM. The cover charge of AED 80 includes one drink.
A special Ramadan film screening of Zainab Shaheen's debut feature, a coming-of-age story that doubles as a love letter to the landscapes of the UAE. Suhail is a young Emirati with autism, living alone in the Fujairah mountains after his [ ... ]
The third Third Line solo exhibition by Spanish-Moroccan artist Anuar Khalifi comprises a new body of large-scale paintings and works on paper that represent an evolution in Khalifi’s practice, with increasingly intricate and carefully composed settings expanding the pictorial field. [ ... ]
Dubomedy's highly successful comedy gig at Hushh in Social Distrikt, later than usual because of Ramadan. "Fantastic lineups, big laughs, and great vibes ... Come hungry, leave happy."
This tour with Dubai Collection Curator Jumanah Abbas of the current exhibition of works from the Collection promises an accessible, close-looking introduction to the exhibition and its key themes. Led through the space with curatorial context, guests will explore how artists [ ... ]
Exactly what it says: an evening of scenes, stories and narrative improvisation influenced by audience suggestions and featuring the Courtyard Playhouse's most experienced improv performers plus guests. It's free, but you need to put your name on the guestlist (via [ ... ]
This conversation brings together Dubai Collection patrons Malini Gulrajani and Jafar Dajani in conversation with Hala Khayat to unpack the role collectors play in shaping artistic legacy. The session looks at how patronage evolves across generations, how collections reflect personal [ ... ]
Adina Hempel, Director of Zayed Institute of Architecture, Heritage, and Arts, and art historian Nada Shabout join Myrna Ayad to discuss the methods, ethics, and urgency of preservation – how stories are documented, how histories are recorded, and how archiving [ ... ]
Anyone who has read Clark’s sweeping but very accessible vision of cognitive science is free to join this Dubai Bibliophiles Book Club meetup. It’s a great choice: the key takeaway – experience itself is a kind of controlled hallucination because [ ... ]
Flutist and vocalist Naïssam Jalal and oud master Hazem Shaheen have been friends and collaborators for nearly 20 years, composing and performing an intimate, meditative repertoire that uses just their two instruments and brings together the classical Arabic tradition of [ ... ]
"Disorientation does not begin with the wandering mind, but with an excess of questioning," says the gallery in introducing this exhibition of the Syria-born Sharjah-based artist's most recent body of work. "In this context, art is not considered a linear [ ... ]
Without 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 [ ... ]
This tour with Dubai Collection Curator Jumanah Abbas of the current exhibition of works from the Collection promises an accessible, close-looking introduction to the exhibition and its key themes. Led through the space with curatorial context, guests will explore how artists [ ... ]
Curator’s Corner offers students, artists, and cultural practitioners a closer look at the research and decision-making behind exhibitions. This session has Suheyla Takesh, Director of Barjeel Art Foundation, and Dubai Collection Curator Jumanah Abbas in conversation about their curatorial practices [ ... ]
The 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 [ ... ]
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania has created a docudrama that reconstructs the horrifying true story of five-year-old Hind Rajab as she is bombarded by the Israeli army in Gaza in 2024. Rajab survived the original assault by the IDF, which [ ... ]
Huma Shoaib has always been an interesting, thoughtful artist, creating patterns from sacred geometry and looking for analogies in life and nature. She often uses paper cut silhouettes layered with detailed graphite drawings that typically adds three-dimensional depth to otherwise [ ... ]
A visit with Hazem Harb in his studio. A multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, collage, and sculpture, Harb explores memory, displacement, and archival histories, often reconstructing fragments of the past into layered compositions. This visit offers a rare chance [ ... ]
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation's monthly lecture series, led by Dr Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator and Director of Exhibitions, continues with a search for deeper structure, symbolism, and emotional intensity that laid the foundations for modern art. The focus is on [ ... ]
Culture Emulsion’s production (in French, of course) of the popular comedy by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière that premiered in 2010 and went on to become a successful film adaptation. It’s a story about names and family relationships; [ ... ]
A visit to Expo City's cultural platform, House of Arts – "a space that supports artists, welcomes the creative community and activates cultural dialogue" – as part of the Dubai Collection Nights programme.
"45 minutes of non-stop laughs from four surprise comedians serving up a full-flavoured feast of funny".
A second performance for the UAE National Orchestra concert inspired by the words of Ibn Arabi, the Arab scholar, Sufi mystic, poet, and Muslim philosopher from 12th and 13th century al-Andalus, in the form of a symphonic poem by Nadim [ ... ]
Ramadan Nights returns to the Jameel for a weekend of evening workshops led by local artists, self-guided creative activities and late-night access to the current exhibitions. There will also be the Ramadan Souk’s curated stalls and traditional comestibles, plus a [ ... ]
A visit with Saif Mhaisen, a Dubai-based artist working primarily in charcoal drawing and large-scale oil painting. Mhaisen’s practice is rooted in slow observation, creating portraits shaped by community, presence, and lived experience. Through an intimate look at his process and [ ... ]
An invitation-only private home viewing of The Ghada Kunash & Khaled Abdel Hamid Collection. Hosted by Dubai Collection patrons Ghada Kunash and Khaled Abdel Hamid, this brings guests closer to the personal story of collecting through a curated selection of [ ... ]
Second of four Junction performances for Culture Emulsion’s production (in French, of course) of the popular comedy by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière. Forty-something Vincent is about to become a father for the first time. Invited to dinner [ ... ]
The Laughter Factory is powering through Ramadan with a decent bill: Andrew Ryan Hard-working Irish standup with a sharp wit, good observational comedy, and a lovely warm voice for telling stories Yash Bhardwaj The Dubai-based Indian comedian is a stalwart [ ... ]
Second time this week for the Pepp's "45 minutes of non-stop laughs from four surprise comedians serving up a full-flavoured feast of funny".
A Flamingo Live standup set featuring "Dubai’s Funniest Comedians" (a hardworking bunch, given that they seem to appear in the promos for every comedy gig). The entry fee includes one house drink.
The Dubai-based artist's first solo show aim to capture the essence of Dubai, and of belonging. Says the artist, who is currently Head of Art at Dubai College: "my visual palette and material inspiration are rooted in the streets. I [ ... ]
A hands-on introduction to using geometry, abstraction, and material exploration to build meaning. Led by Emirati artist Sarah Al Mehairi, whose practice examines language, materiality, and memory through intuitive approaches to narrative and abstraction, the workshop will guide discussions on [ ... ]
The Laughter Factory is powering through Ramadan with a decent bill: Andrew Ryan Hard-working Irish standup with a sharp wit, good observational comedy, and a lovely warm voice for telling stories Yash Bhardwaj The Dubai-based Indian comedian is a stalwart [ ... ]
The acclaimed Thai artist’s first international large-scale survey exhibition brings together works from the last 45 years alongside new commissions. Including performance, video and installations plus some large-scale sculptures not seen since the 1990s, the exhibition fills the indoor galleries, [ ... ]
The fourth edition of Dubai Collection Nights features works from the Dubai Collection that reimagine landscape and invite a slower, more attentive way of seeing.
The Bolshoi prima Svetlana Zakharova returns to Dubai Opera with dancers from the Bolshoi company for a one-night-only presentation of her touring double bill. The main piece is Gabrielle Chanel, an hour-long bio-ballet featuring 80 costumes created by the eponymous [ ... ]
A group show – 27 artists, 35 works – of prints from digital art that represent “a kaleidoscopic range of subjects and sentiments reflecting the complexity and richness of being human today … Rendered through digital tools, in some instances [ ... ]
New work by the Spanish artist, which the gallery says marks a pivotal moment in his practice. They were created in his new studio in Cádiz, surrounded by olive, almond, and orange trees, allowing nature to enter physically and psychologically; [ ... ]
Exactly what it says: an evening of scenes, stories and narrative improvisation influenced by audience suggestions and featuring the Courtyard Playhouse's most experienced improv performers plus guests. It's free, but you need to put your name on the guestlist (via [ ... ]
For this Easter Performance the excellent Klimit Quartet is joined by soprano Caterina Di Tonno and mezzo-soprano Rosa Bove for a classic of sacred Baroque music, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. The programme includes "a selection of Easter arias and [ ... ]
In this new body of work – paintings, drawings, and sculpture – Alia Lootah continues an exploration of how form moves, shifts, and transforms ("a form is never finished, only paused"). Shapes stretch, collapse, and reappear altered, "existing in a [ ... ]
The 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 [ ... ]
A group show for six contemporary artists of Arab descent: Gilbert Halaby, Hanibal Srouji, Hussein Baalbaki, Richard Hearns, Sarah Alagroobi, and Soraya Abu Naba’a. Says the gallery: "At the heart of Memoryscape lies a shared inquiry into how our surroundings [ ... ]
The Laughter Factory is powering through Ramadan with a decent bill: Andrew Ryan Hard-working Irish standup with a sharp wit, good observational comedy, and a lovely warm voice for telling stories Yash Bhardwaj The Dubai-based Indian comedian is a stalwart [ ... ]
Flamingo Live's comedy club is back at the Coterie pub in Ibn Battuta Mall "with a fresh lineup of comedians bringing the heat" ... The door price includes two drinks (and it's Happy Hour all night).
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