In the last few years the Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival has grown into a solid contributor to the UAE’s arts and culture scene, with a community-oriented twist to the mix of exhibitions, performances, workshops and film screenings. There’s always [... more]
This living expression of Abu Dhabi's Culture is always worth a visit. The emphasis is on heritage, so the Al Hosn programme includes traditional souks, performances (lots of ayyalah), food, coffee, kids’ workshops and more. It runs 4pm to 11pm [... more]
LitFest is back with the usual rich brew of panel discussions and conversations, talks, workshops, family activities and the LitFest After Hours programme. It looks like the biggest and most varied yet, so that probably means it will be the [... more]
The 14th edition of what has become one of Dubai Culture's flagship initiatives is back in Al Shindagha Historic District, this year with the theme ‘Imagining Dubai: Identities of the Future’. The festival promises "a diverse array of artworks" in [... more]
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 [... more]
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 [... more]
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 [... more]
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 [... more]
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 [... more]
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 [... more]
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 [... more]
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 [... more]
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’ [... more]
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