• Steven Naifeh: Art, Writing, and Passion for Art Collection

    Richelieu Amphitheatre Hazza Bin Zayed St, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The artist, writer, art historian and collector Steven Naifeh will discuss his work, currently featured in a solo exhibition at Artbooth Gallery and at Abu Dhabi Art; his writing, notably his biography of Vincent van Gogh; and his collection of [ ... ]

    Free
  • Khalif Tahir Thompson / Summer Wheat: Jewels

    Sotheby’s Dubai DIFC Gate Village Building No3, Unit 01, Level B2, Dubai

    The first in The Gallery Collective, a series of sort-of gallery takeovers whereby Sotheby's Dubai is giving its DIFC exhibition space over to a series of local galleries in a two-year run starting in November. Every six to eight weeks, [ ... ]

    Free
  • Dancing Pina: dir Florian Heinzen-Ziob (2022)

    Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel Trade Center St, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Two spectacular dance projects show how a young generation of dancers from all over the world are rediscovering Pina Bausch's choreography: the Semperoper Ballet Company in Dresden rehearses her dance opera Iphigenia in Tauris, and dancers from all over Africa [ ... ]

    Free
  • More Than Honey: dir Markus Imhoof (2012)

    Alliance Française Dubai Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    "If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth," said Albert Einstein, "man would have no more than four years left to live". That's because without the bees' pollinating work, agriculture could collapse and with it our ability to [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Dans la brume: dir Daniel Roby (2018)

    Jardins Germaine Tillion Hazza Bin Zayed St, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Daniel Roby's film has a Parisian couple whose daughter suffers from an incurable disease that forces her to live in a hermetically sealed glass bubble. Then a mysterious toxic fog begins to spread in the Parisian streets, killing anyone who [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Comedy Night @ Ting Irie

    Ting Irie, Mamsga al Saadiyat Mamsha Al Saadiyat, Cultural District, Abu Dhabi

    "Hilarious live performances by up-and-coming stand-up comedians" at Ting Irie Abu Dhabi every other Tuesday (best to check their Instagram account @tingirieauh just to be sure). It's hosted by Funeral Home Comedy; the Jamaican vibe is always great, irrespective of [ ... ]

    AED 95
  • Sunset Soirée

    Bla Bla Dubai The Beach, Dubai

    An early-evening open mic gig for local musicians in Bla Bla's Backroom.

    Free (we think)
  • Hard Shell Soft Shell | Fragile: dir Emma Benestan (2021)

    Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel Trade Center St, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A handsome oyster farmer from the Mediterranean port town of Sète vows to win back his actress girlfriend after a botched proposal involving a ring hidden in an oyster shell. Fortunately, his friends are ready to do anything to help [ ... ]

    Free
  • Animal: dir Cyril Dion (2021)

    Jardins Germaine Tillion Hazza Bin Zayed St, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    16-year-old Bella and Vipulan are part of a generation that knows its very future is at risk – between climate change and the mass extinction of wildlife, their world could well be inhabitable 50 years from now. At the instigation [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Artist’s Rooms: Amba Sayal-Bennett

    Jameel Arts Centre Al Jaddaf, Dubai

    Works spanning the last eight years of the artist’s practice that critically engage with the socio-political contexts of architectural heritage and modernist ideologies and aesthetics. Drawing is at the centre of Amba Sayal-Bennett’s practice, expanding across works on paper, projections [ ... ]

    Free
  • Thaier Helal: Navigating Through Nothing

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

    A solo exhibition featuring Helal’s most recent body of work and a pivotal moment in the artist’s evolution, a more straightforward yet deeply expressive style without the constraints of his previous methods. The new approach, characterized by loose, dynamic strokes, [ ... ]

    Free
  • Edgar Orlaineta: What We See of Things is the Things

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

    A solo show for the Mexican artist whose practice focuses on hybrid sculptural forms that draw inspiration from modernism, popular culture, and specific historic moments. In particular, Orlaineta explores post-war design and architecture, generally depicting biomorphic shapes with a strong [ ... ]

    Free
  • Chaouki Choukini: Citadelles of Today

    Green Art Gallery Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    New work by the Lebanese-born Paris-based sculptor. Working mainly in wood but occasionally in marble or stone, Choukini's aethetic may appear somewhat primitivist; in fact his sculptures exhibit a sophisticated interrogation of organic and mechanical worlds. To 20 January.

    Free
  • Eman Alhashemi: Superficial Transactions

    Aisha Alabbar Gallery Warehouse C19, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Alhashemi's second solo exhibition at the gallery is her first after returning from the States with a Master’s in Fine Arts. Curated by Nasser Abdullah, this exhibition presents a series of works that build on her previous experiences, "appearing as [ ... ]

    Free
  • Behzad Khosravi Noori: The Life of an Itinerant Through a Pinhole

    Gulf Photo Plus Unit D36 Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Behzad Noori, PhD is a self-described artist, writer, educator and necromancer; his research-based practice includes films, installations, and archival studies, investigating histories from the Global South, labour and the means of production, and histories of political relationships that have existed [ ... ]

    Free
  • Negin Fallah, Mai Al Remeithi, Annie Kurkdjian: Contours of Belonging

    Firetti Contemporary Unit 29, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    A group show for three female artists whose backgrounds, experiences, and practices converge in a shared exploration of cultural heritage, personal memory, and emotional landscapes. Negin Fallah examines the intersection of tradition and transformation, where echoes of Iranian illuminated manuscripts [ ... ]

    Free
  • Chinar Farooqui: ⁠Injiri (Real India)

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

    An intimate look at the creative journey of the founder of the Injari contemporary clothing brand, Chinar Farooqui, and the narratives woven into each piece produced by Injiri, its dedication to traditional craftsmanship, and its emphasis on sustainable practices. To [ ... ]

    Free
  • Adel El Siwi: Yellow Tropics

    Tabari Artspace Gate Village Level 2, DIFC, Dubai

    El Siwi's first solo exhibition in over a decade features both new paintings and pieces from an archive of earlier works: "the paintings shown here collectively present philosophical provocations and musings" says the gallery. The title references Upper Egypt and [ ... ]

    Free
  • Sharjah Film Platform 7

    [various Sharjah locations]

    Sharjah Arts Foundation’s annual indie/experimental film festival returns for its seventh edition, featuring around 30 UAE premieres. Most are in the Competition section, documentary and fiction films that have been nominated by an international committee of filmmakers and industry professionals. [ ... ]

    AED 15
  • The Laughter Factory Premium Comedy Club

    Mövenpick Hotel JBR Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    This month's Laughter Factory tour has a particularly good look, with some top standups on the bill (and one more than usual). It kicks off at the Mövenpick as usual. The acts: Stephen Grant hard-working emcee, a genius British comic [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • Tyrrell Winston: Life in the Fast Lane

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

    Winston’s work blends art with sports culture, transforming everyday objects – deflated basketballs, cigarette butts, even the signatures of artists and athletes –into pieces that challenge viewers to reconsider the significance of these items; the results "resonate with resilience, legacy, [ ... ]

    Free
  • Candlelight: From Mozart to Chopin

    Sea World Yas Island Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    A  new venue for the candlelit performance, the Al Azure Room at SeaWorld Yas Island. Aldo Dotti plays a 65 minute programme of piano favourites: Mozart: Rondo alla Turca from Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K 331 Mozart: [ ... ]

    From AED 200
  • Candlelight: From Mozart to Chopin

    Jumeirah Al Qasr Madinat Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim, Dubai

    Aldo Dotti plays a 65 minute programme of piano favourites, outdoors at the Jumeriah Al Qasr's Céleste poolside restuarant. The programme: Mozart: Rondo alla Turca from Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K 331 Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 [ ... ]

    From AED 180
  • The Laughter Factory Premium Comedy Club

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

    This month's Laughter Factory tour has a particularly good look, with some top standups on the bill (and one more than usual). This is the earlier of two gigs today (the team moves on to the Mövenpick later). The acts: [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • Casablanca Beats: dir Nabil Ayouch (2021)

    Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel Trade Center St, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Nabil Ayouch’s grittily authentic tale of a rapper turned teacher helping his students find their creative voices is a class act. It manages to combine familiar cinematic tropes like 'strength through making music' and the inspirational teacher with a taste [ ... ]

    Free
  • Atlantis Live: Martin Garrix

    Atlantis, The Palm Crescent Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A gig at Atlantis for one of the big-name EDM producer/DJs who really does merit the acclaim. Last time he was here, he sold out the place and delivered a great 150-minute performance with a terrific lights-and-lasers show and more [ ... ]

  • The Laughter Factory Premium Comedy Club

    Mövenpick Hotel JBR Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    This month's Laughter Factory tour has a particularly good look, with some top standups on the bill (and one more than usual). This is the second of two gigs today. The acts: Stephen Grant hard-working emcee, a genius British comic [ ... ]

    AED 160
  • The Ice Hole – A Cardboard Comedy

    Theatre by QE2 Queen Elizabeth 2, Port Rashid, Dubai

    This production debuted for four performances in May and two in July; all sold out (deservedly). It's now back for a run at Theatre by QE2 and these are its last two shows (at 3pm and 8pm). It's an English [ ... ]

    AED 120
  • Alserkal Art Week

    Alserkal Avenue Al Quoz 1, Dubai

    Alserkal Art Week returns 17-25 November. As usual many of the galleries will be opening new shows during the week (we count ten: they're listed separately in the Agenda), but the Alserkal Avenue people have been developing a programme themselves [ ... ]

    Free
  • Al Ain Book Festival 2024

    Hazza bin Zayed Stadium Al Ain

    AABF has changed its nomenclature from 'book fair' to 'book festival' for 2024, but this is till an important date for Arab-language publishers – and the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), which organises it, has reported a "significant" increase [ ... ]

    Free (we think)
  • Pina: dir Wim Wenders (2011)

    Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel Trade Center St, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A captivating dance documentary that celebrates the life and work of the world-renowned choreographer Pina Bausch. During the preparations for the film in 2009, Bausch died suddenly; the dancers of Bausch's company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, convinced him to proceed as a [ ... ]

    Free
  • LAST CHANCE Kaikhan Salakhov: Astral Space Exploration & dash; The Cosmic Renaissance

    Firetti Contemporary Unit 29, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Salakhov's work is “a profound exploration of the intersection between science, art, and spirituality, using sacred geometry to illuminate deep cosmic truths”. On show are 36 “meticulously crafted” acrylic paintings that reimagine Renaissance art through a modern lens, blending classical aesthetics [ ... ]

    Free
  • Artist Talk: Ayesha Sultana

    Ishara Art Foundation Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

    Ayesha Sultana’s first public talk in the UAE examines the complex relationship between the human body and the natural world, and in particular her hand-blown glass sculptures and watercolour paintings on tissue displayed at Ishara in her ongoing Fragility and [ ... ]

    Free
  • Hadwin’s Judgement: dir Sasha Snow (2015)

    Alliance Française Dubai Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    A compelling hybrid of drama and documentary, this film covers the events that led up to the infamous destruction of an extraordinary 300-year-old tree held sacred by the Indigenous Haida Nation of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. Inspired by John Vaillant’s [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Alyazia Al Nahyan: In the Breath of Decay

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

    A solo show for the Emirati artist to open this new gallery in Abu Dhabi’s Mina al Zayed. Al Nahyan’s practice is based on foraging -- materials she collects on her walks through her family farm and elsewhere, are accentuated [ ... ]

    Free
  • Putting the Record Straight: The Lost Women of Art History

    Society Dubai Jumeirah Street, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Continuing this seven-part lecture series by art historian Rose Balston on female artists from the 16th through to the 18th century – “women who have not only been side-lined, but literally (and shockingly) blocked out of history”, mainly by the [ ... ]

    AED 250
  • Korea National Contemporary Dance Company: Jungle

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

    Our everyday lives are sometimes like a jungle, where everybody has to fight for survival in their own way. This work for 17 dancers of the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company interprets the jungle as a place of collisions between [ ... ]

    AED 150
  • Black Box Cinema x Public Matter

    Since 2014, Black Box Cinema (founded and managed by Abu Dhabi-born actor and director Nawaf Al Janahi) has presented Arab-language short films since 2014. Screenings are at the Biennial Hub on Abu Dhabi Beach. In this Public Art Abu Dhabi [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Abu Dhabi Art: day two

    Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The 16th edition of Abu Dhabi Art has 102 galleries, the largest number to date. It has five principal sectors: Modern & Contemporary: for established galleries (who have been operating for at least seven years) with curatorial framework for booth [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • NYU Abu Dhabi MFA Open Studios

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

    A chance to see what the NYUAD MFA in Art and Media programme is all about – meet students and faculty, learn more about the programme, check out the application process and available scholarships (available for all students, with some [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial: Identity and Reshaping Public Space

    A panel discussion on the shared sociocultural topics of Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Wsh Wsh (2024) and Nicholas Galanin’s In every language there is Land / En cada lengua hay una Tierra (2024). Abu Hamdan reimagines the intimate soundscapes of Damascene [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial: Functionality, Space, and Public Art

    This conversation extends from artist Christopher Joshua Benton’s Where Lies My Carpet Is Thy Home (2024), a vibrant, collaboratively made astroturf carpet developed with merchants from Abu Dhabi’s carpet souq and inspired by their stories and lives. The audience can [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Fridge Open Mic

    The Fridge Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    An open mic gig for local musicians playing 10-minute performance slots. If you want to play, online registrations open on 18 November; or turn up from 6.30pm on the night and you might get a slot.

    Free (we think)
  • Black Box Cinema x Public Matter

    Since 2014, Black Box Cinema (founded and managed by Abu Dhabi-born actor and director Nawaf Al Janahi) has presented Arab-language short films since 2014. Screenings are at the Biennial Hub on Abu Dhabi Beach. In this Public Art Abu Dhabi [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Focal Point 2024

    FOCAL POINT 2023
    Sharjah Art Foundation, Bait Obaid Al Shamsi Arts Square, Sharjah

    The seventh edition of Sharjah Art Foundation’s Focal Point art book fair – the region’s only art book fair, we think – features local and international publishers with book launches, talks, workshops and musical performances during its run (22 to [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Tanweer Festival

    Mleiha Archaeological Centre Sharjah

    The inaugural Tanweer Festival promises “a three-day celebration that transcends language, culture, and borders” on 22, 23 and 24 November in the desert at Mleiha, itself a treasure of visual and archaeological significance. ‘Tanweer’ means something like ‘enlightenment’, and the [ ... ]

    AED 700
  • Lang Lang Plays Disney

    Etihad Arena Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

    Top international pianist plus full orchestra and “special guests”plays Disney soundtracks – "a musical and visual experience of Disney’s most popular songs”. Lang Lang has been touring his take on Disney for some time – Disney has a 60-minute TV [ ... ]

    From AED 195
  • Fashionarte

    Chaka Arts Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    We don’t normally do fashion in magpie, but we do have a soft spot for Goshopia and its founder Araceli Gallego, repository and advocate respectively for sustainably-sourced don’t-scare-the-horses style in practical but very goodlooking wear, mostly for women. And now [ ... ]

    Free
  • Abu Dhabi Art: day three

    Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    The 16th edition of Abu Dhabi Art has 102 galleries, the largest number to date. It has five principal sectors: Modern & Contemporary: for established galleries (who have been operating for at least seven years) with curatorial framework for booth [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register
  • Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial: Sociocultural Contexts and Public Art

    Manarat al Saadiyat Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    This panel involves artists whose work connects us within cities. Bjørnstjerne Christiansen (SUPERFLEX) speaks about interspecies relationships and gathering spaces for humans and other species; Afra Al Dhaheri explains how her work fosters sensory engagement, promoting balance amid modern life's [ ... ]

    Free, but pre-register