• Remote Al Ain by Rimini Protokoll

    Rimini Protokoll pushes the boundaries of conventional theatre. During this performance walk within the collective’s ‘Remote X’ series (2013–ongoing), you are invited to explore the growing presence of artificial intelligence in future cities; for this tour, designed specifically for Al [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Jam Rebel: Sunset Reggae

    The Fridge Warehouse Warehouse 5, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    A reggae evening with the dynamic five-piece, with a repertoire that spans reggae history from Bob Marley to Lucky Dube, (plus a bit of UB40 pop-reggae and their own songs). These guys know how to have a lot of fun [ ... ]

    AED 150
  • Reynier Llanes: Reverie

    Firetti Contemporary Unit 29, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    An exhibition inspired by French philosopher Gaston Bachelard’s comment on 'reverie' – "Reverie is not a mind vacuum. It is rather the gift of an hour which knows the plenitude of the soul", a space where imagination and memory intertwine [ ... ]

  • Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons: I Am Soil. My Tears Are Water

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

    Efie Gallery is opening its new space in Alserkal Avenue with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons’ debut solo exhibition in the Middle East. The exhibiiton, curated by Faridah Folawiyo, explores diaspora and interconnectedness through the flora and fauna of Latin America, the [ ... ]

    Free
  • Maydan: A Living Agora

    Leila Heller Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    This clever collaboration fills one of Leila Heller's gallery spaces with work by artists from Toronto's Zaal Art Gallery for a short run that coincides with Art Dubai – thus providing curated exposure for rather more work than an Art [ ... ]

    Free
  • Kuniko Kato

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

    Kuniko Kato is one of the world’s leading percussionists, noted for astonishing virtuosity and flawless technique, exquisite musical insight and expressive yet elegant performance style; we don't know what her programme will be, but she is equally proficient in traditional [ ... ]

    AED 175
  • Michael Sailstorfer: Air Electric

    Carbon 12 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Sailstorfer’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery brings together three series of works that explore one of the artist’s signature themes: energy. He reflects on energy as a source, as storage, as a transmitter, as working material – in short, [ ... ]

    Free
  • Sama Alshaibi: طرس (Tterss)

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

    A solo exhibition of recent body work by one of the gallery’s stars. Alshaibi’s multimedia work explores spaces of conflict and the power struggles that reimagine Baghdad’s transformation – its peaks, declines, and latent possibilities. Baghdad becomes a site of [ ... ]

    Free
  • Huda Lutfi: Unraveling

    The Third Line Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Huda Lutfi’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery includes works from three recent series – When Dreams Call for Silence (2019), Our Black Thread (2020–2021), and Healing Devices (2020–ongoing) It also includes a selection of previously unshown miniature collages, offering [ ... ]

    Free
  • Elias Sime: Through the Window

    Lawrie Shabibi Unit 21, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    The first solo exhibition in the Middle East for the Addis Ababa artist showcases Sime’s distinctive practice of transforming colourful wires, circuit boards, and electronic components into intricate, layered compositions that blur the boundaries between technology, nature, and abstraction. The [ ... ]

    Free
  • Maryam Hoseini: Swells

    Green Art Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    The second solo exhibition at this gallery for the Iran-born, NY-based artist features new paintings that revels in transplanting elements within themselves. Hoseini says “the figures have moved from architecture to landscape"; so the flat figure expands and multiplies in [ ... ]

    Free
  • Halim Al Karim: Mythological Love

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

    Experimental photography works by the Iraqui artist, who says: “Inspired by the Sumerian myth and my archaeological excavations in our invisible life, the mythological love series invites us to contemplate the magical love relationship between human women and the Anunnaki [ ... ]

    Free
  • Al Braithwaite: MATAB

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

    Al Braithwaite is a contemporary artist from London who works across a variety of disciplines including sculpture, assemblage, found material and installation. For this show, Braithwaite’s Material Abstraction (MATAB) comprises textured panels arrayed as physical sculptures. Says the gallery: “Their [ ... ]

    Free
  • Hassan Sharif: The Storyteller

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

    Curated by Murtaza Vali, this exhibition revisits Hassan Sharif’s 'objects', works which expand the definition of 'craft' beyond notions of skill, precision and medium-specific mastery and towards "an experimental, experiential and embodied practice of learning, understanding, and knowing through making". [ ... ]

    Free
  • a radical intimacy of hanging out

    Aisha Alabbar Gallery Warehouse C19, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    A group exhibition featuring Emirati artists Asma Khoory, Taqwa Alnaqbi, and Sultan Al Remeithi, curated by Salem AlSuwaidi. "In a world rushing forward, the exhibition invites you to linger—where 'killing time' becomes a quiet, radical act of care, presence, and [ ... ]

    Free
  • Naeemeh Kazemi: Bubble Land

    Leila Heller Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A solo show for an artist whose distinctive approach to visual storytelling lies in her ability to blend hyperrealism with dreamlike distortion. Her paintings transform the sea into a metaphor for modern existence where joy and anxiety coexist, and spectacle [ ... ]

    Free
  • Naeemeh Kazemi: Bubble Land

    Leila Heller Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A solo show for an artist whose distinctive approach to visual storytelling lies in her ability to blend hyperrealism with dreamlike distortion. In this series, a follow-on from her gorgeous but unsettling La La Land works, her paintings transform the [ ... ]

    Free
  • Morteza Khazaie: Upside Down

    Leila Heller Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Khazaie's solo show is inspired by nature, particularly by trees that bend in the face of wind and storms yet do not break. These symbolise resilience and flexibility; just as in life, people too change under pressure and harsh conditions, [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Diana Al-Hadid

    The Plaza, One Za'abeel Za'abeel 1, Dubai

    A preview of Al-Hadid Art Dubai exhibits in advance of the art fair, showing in the Plaza at One Za'abeel in partnership with Galleri Brandstrup and Bureau Safavid. We promised "a dialogue between memory, architecture, and cultural identity"; guided tours [ ... ]

  • Asunción Molinos Gordo: The Peasant, the Scholar and the Engineer

    Jameel Arts Centre Al Jaddaf, Dubai

    Asunción Molinos Gordo’s second major collaboration with Art Jameel – following her 2019 Artist’s Garden, In Transit (Botany of a Journey) – is her first retrospective exhibition in West Asia. This show spans 15 years of Molinos Gordo’s work, tracing [ ... ]

    Free
  • Calder / Hiquily: Balancing Act

    Opera Gallery DIFC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A clever juxtaposition of works by two masters of the poetry of balance and movement that reveals unexpected harmonies between the artistic languages of Alexander Calder and Philippe Hiquily. Calder’s gouaches on paper, with their bold colours and rhythmic compositions, [ ... ]

    Free
  • Kojo Marfo: HOME Heart Of My Existence

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

    The inaugural exhibition in the Emirates for the Ghanaian artist explores the concept of ‘home’ through the lens of Afro-Surrealism. This series marks an introspective shift in his practice, reflecting his evolving sense of place in the world; HOME: Heart [ ... ]

    Free
  • Diamanti: dir Ferzan Özpetek (2024)

    Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    A dazzling film set in n 1970s Rome in a dressmaking atelier for film and theatre. The atelier is directed by two very different sisters, one determined and slightly despotic, the other more fragile and tormented. An important order comes [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Katia and Marielle Labèque

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

    We’re promised “an original and innovative musical programme” from the Labèque sisters, and they never disappoint. Noted for their impeccable synchronicity, electrifying energy, and deftness of interpretation, the sisters “have transformed the piano duo” (New York Times) and “their musical [ ... ]

    AED 175
  • LAST CHANCE Niga Sayyed and Ali Zolghadri: Silence & Noise

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

    The connection between silence and noise, minimalism and maximalism, is explored in this exhibition, which contrasts contemporary and traditional art: Ali Zolghadri works with minimalistic black-and-white photography, Niga Sayyed captures quiet stories from the past in pieces that evolve from [ ... ]

    Free
  • Thomas Lélu: Calm Down It’s Just Art

    Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery 796 Jumeirah Street, Dubai

    Thomas Lélu’s practice interweaves photography, installation art, and textual elements, frequently featuring the appropriation and recontextualisation of imagery from popular culture and media to interrogate themes of contemporary society, consumerism, and media representation. His methodology of exploration, archiving, and contextualization [ ... ]

    Free
  • World Art Dubai 2025

    Dubai World Trade Centre Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    World Art Dubai is back for its eleventh edition, with more than 10,000 artworks from 400+ galleries and individual artists who come from more than 65 different countries. WAD has grown out of its early days as a simple lo-fi [ ... ]

    AED 30
  • The Power of Words: When Humour Meets Visual Culture

    Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery 796 Jumeirah Street, Dubai

    A conversation with around Thomas Lélu's current Zidoun-Bossuyt show Calm Down It’s Just Art exploring the impact of language and humour in contemporary art, and how it resonates within an international cultural context like that of the UAE. The panel: [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • The Fridge Open Mic / Marisa Sardo

    The Fridge Warehouse Warehouse 5, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    The Fridge's Open Mic night is one of the best in town, both because of the venue (good vibes, good acoustics, good crowd) and because of the top tech available – includes drum kit, electric keyboard, bass amp, guitar amp, [ ... ]

    Free
  • En Fanfare | The Marching Band: dir Emmanuel Courcol (2024)

    Germaine Tillion Garden, SUAD Campus Abu Dhabi

    The third feature film from screenwriter, actor and director Emmanuel Courcol is a sensitive work that matches music and meaningful relationships. Thibaut, an acclaimed orchestra conductor, diagnosed with leukaemia ,discovers that he is adopted when a DNA test to find [ ... ]

    Free
  • Laura Garcia Karras: Eidolon

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

    A solo exhibition by that French artist that explores "the spectral space between presence and absence, giving form to what lingers just beyond perception" (the ancient Greek word 'eidolon' means phantom, double, or apparition). Karras’s works appear as delicate traces [ ... ]

    Free
  • Flower Shop

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

    A group show – with Maria Andrievskaya, Almendra Bertoni, Katie Hector, Jen Hitchings, and John Denniston II– that invites us to think of colour not just as a visual element but as a language of its own. "Colour is what [ ... ]

    Free
  • April Acts 2025: to carry new formations

    vrs SB16 locations Sharjah

    The inaugural edition of April Acts, a weekend initiative expanding on the curatorial framework of Sharjah Biennial 16 and held across various  SB16 venues, has the title to carry new formations – an extesion of SB16's theme, to carry. The [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Art Dubai 2025

    Madinat Jumeirah Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Art Dubai’s core gallery programme will feature over 120 participants across four sections as befire: Contemporary, Modern, Bawwaba (featuring exclusively new work) and Art Dubai Digital. Works on sale are included in the excellent online catalogue for browsing. Away from [ ... ]

    AED 100
  • Curators Talk: Shabbir Hussain Mustafa

    The latest in the NYUAD Art Gallery's series of conversations with curators features Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, Senior Curator and Head of Exhibitions at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi In this conversation with the Art Gallery's curator Duygu Demir, he will discuss [ ... ]

  • Korean National University of Arts Symphony Orchestra: Jaewon Wee and Sang Hyeok Park

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

    The KNUA Symphony Orchestra have their Arab World Premiere with this Abu Dhabi Festival performance under the baton of Chung Chi-Yong, one of the country’s most celebrated conductors. For this evening, KNUA Symphony Orchestra the soloists the award-winning violinist Jaewon [ ... ]

    AED 175
  • Laughter Factory Premium Comedy Club

    The Agenda Abdullah Omran Taryam St, Media City, Dubai

    April's Laughter Factory tour features Montreal's Just For Laughs festival favourite Eman El Husseini, about-to-be-big US standup Maher Matta, and top local talent Valentina Danubio, 2023 winner of Survival of the Funniest. Here are the other upcoming gigs: 19 Apr [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • Abdullah Al Othman: Structural Syntax

    Iris Projects Studio 20, Madar 39, MiZa, Port Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The Saudi artist has long been developing a highly characteristic visual language rooted in the Arabian urban landscapes, architecture, and linguistic history. In his work, In his monumental installations and sculptures Al Othman reflects on the layers of history embedded [ ... ]

    Free
  • The Little Mermaid

    Jumeirah Beach Hotel Dubai

    H2 productions and the Dubai Panto team return to Jumeirah Beach Hotel with their unique adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's well-loved tale of the mermaid who yearns for a life above the waves – only to be ensnared by the [ ... ]

    From AED 110
  • Mayar Obeido: Ever in Reform

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

    Fann À Porter's second solo exhibition for Syrian artist Mayar Obeido features his signature reconfigured table, presented as an independent element for the first time in his practice, with an accompanying series of black ink and coloured paper studies. While [ ... ]

    Free
  • SAT Research Initiative – Living Continuity: Urban Workshop 2

    Old Al Jubail Vegetable Market 8 Bujair Bin Abi Bujair St, Sharjah

    Sharhah Arcitecure Triennial's Living Continuity: Urban Workshop Series brings together artists, researchers, and writers whose practices are deeply rooted in lived experiences to explore "our role as urban actors within the layered histories and evolving ecologies of a neighborhood". This [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Une part manquante | A Missing Part: dir Guillaume Senez (2024)

    Germaine Tillion Garden, SUAD Campus Abu Dhabi

    Belgian filmmaker Guillaume Senez has always been fascinated with personal responsibility and family dynamics. His latest film, which premiered at last autumn's Toronto Film Festival, fits the mould; it tells the story of a father’s struggle to reconnect with his [ ... ]

    Free
  • ROFL@TGIF Comedy Night

    TGIFriday's at the Rove Hotel Downtown 312 Al Mustaqbal Street, Dubai

    Dubomedy gigs are usually pretty good, especially when the price is free (with a minimum spend of one drink or one food item) and a "fantastic" (their judgement) bill of stand-ups – "you never know who will drop by!" It's [ ... ]

    Free
  • Laughter Factory Premium Comedy Club

    Vintage Grand Hotel Al Fay Road, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    April's Laughter Factory tour features Montreal's Just For Laughs festival favourite Eman El Husseini, about-to-be-big US standup Maher Matta, and top local talent Valentina Danubio, 2023 winner of Survival of the Funniest. Here are the other upcoming gigs: 24 Apr [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • LAST CHANCE Marcos Marín

    ME by Meliá The Opus by Omniyat, Al Amal Street, Business Bay, Dubai

    The second edition of ME by Meliá Dubai's Cultural Connection exhibition series features more than 60 pieces by Brazilian artist Marcos Marín in his signature style – optical and kinetic art panels and sculptures with portraits of world figures, royals, [ ... ]

  • LAST CHANCE Ali Pasandideh: Love Is the Beginning of Humanity

    Kutubna Cultural Center Madina Avenues 17, Nadd Al Hamar, Dubai

    A solo exhibition by the noted Iranian calligrapher Ali Pasandideh. Inspired by the poetry of Hooshang Ebtehaj (aka HE Sayeh) this collection of more than two dozen works in Nastaliq calligraphy explores the timeless link between love, humanity, and the [ ... ]

    Free
  • The Little Mermaid

    Jumeirah Beach Hotel Dubai

    The last chance to catch the return of H2 productions and the Dubai Panto team with their adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's well-loved tale of the mermaid who yearns for a life above the waves – only to be ensnared [ ... ]

    From AED 110
  • Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial: Bik Van der Pol’s The poem that jumps the fence

    Abu Dhabi Beach Al Hisn Street, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Artist duo Bik Van der Pol (Liesbeth Bik and Jos Van der Pol) engage in collaborative projects on how art constructs public spaces for speculative thought and collective creativity. The poem that jumps the fence features weekly performances on Abu [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register