Over the past two decades, Art Dubai has grown into one of the most influential cultural platforms in the Middle East, offering a space where regional artistic practices meet global conversations. More than an art fair, Art Dubai functions as a curatorial ecosystem—one that reflects shifting artistic, political, and technological realities across the Global South and beyond. The 2026 edition continues this trajectory, presenting a multi-layered programme that spans contemporary experimentation, modernist histories, and digital futures.
Through its core sections—Art Dubai Galleries, Bawwaba, Zamaniyyat, and Art Dubai Digital—the fair articulates a vision of art that is grounded in research, dialogue, and long-term engagement rather than spectacle or market-driven trends.
Art Dubai Galleries: Contemporary Practice and Curatorial Excellence
Art Dubai Galleries remains the central pillar of the fair, bringing together exhibitors whose programmes set benchmarks for creativity, curatorial rigor, and cultural exchange. The 2026 selection reflects a broad spectrum of contemporary and modern practices, foregrounding galleries that support artists through sustained inquiry and critical positioning.
The selection committee—Andrée Sfeir-Semler, Priyanka Raja, and Selma Feriani—represents diverse geographic and intellectual perspectives, spanning Beirut, Hamburg, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Tunis. Their collective expertise ensures a balanced selection that bridges regions, generations, and methodologies, reinforcing Art Dubai’s role as a meeting point for artistic voices from the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and the wider world.
Bawwaba: Art as a Gateway to New Narratives
Meaning “gateway” in Arabic, Bawwaba is dedicated to solo presentations of newly commissioned work by emerging to mid-career artists. Curated for 2026 by Amal Khalaf, the section foregrounds artistic practices rooted in experimentation, research, and diasporic experience.
Bawwaba 2026 brings together galleries that operate under complex and often uncertain conditions, yet continue to sustain experimentation through community-building and collaboration. The works presented explore shared concerns such as belonging, movement, resilience, and the production of knowledge. Rather than isolating artists within individual narratives, the section emphasizes interconnectedness, positioning artistic practice as a relational and collective process.
Zamaniyyat: Rethinking Global Modernisms
Derived from the Arabic word zaman (time), Zamaniyyat offers a critical re-examination of modernism as a plural and uneven phenomenon. Curated by Sarah A. Rifky, the 2026 edition brings together 11 galleries and 45 artists from more than 20 countries.
Zamaniyyat challenges linear, Eurocentric narratives of modern art by tracing how modernist ideas moved through art schools, publications, and institutions across different geographies. The section highlights how artists in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America actively shaped modernism, adapting and transforming it in response to local conditions. In doing so, Zamaniyyat positions modernism not as a single timeline, but as a network of overlapping histories.
Art Dubai Digital: The Present Reality of Digital Art
As the leading digital art platform within an art fair context, Art Dubai Digital continues to redefine how digital and immersive practices are experienced. Curated by Ulrich Schrauth and Nadine Khalil, the 2026 edition—titled Myth of the Digital—rejects the notion of digital art as speculative or future-bound.
Instead, the section affirms digital practice as a vital and present force within contemporary art. Installation-led and multisensory works take centre stage, ranging from AI-driven data sculptures and interactive screen-based environments to digital stained glass and textile-inspired surfaces. These works challenge distinctions between physical and virtual, material and immaterial, positioning digital art as deeply embedded in cultural and social realities.
A Middle Eastern Platform with Global Reach
Art Dubai 2026 is firmly rooted in the Middle East, both geographically and conceptually. Yet its significance lies in how it connects the region to broader global discourses. By foregrounding research-driven practice, revisiting modernist histories, and embracing digital experimentation, the fair offers a model of how art platforms in the region can operate with intellectual depth and cultural responsibility.
Rather than presenting a singular narrative, Art Dubai 2026 embraces multiplicity—of time, place, medium, and perspective. In doing so, it reflects the complexity of contemporary artistic production today and reinforces Dubai’s role as a cultural crossroads between histories, futures, and lived realities.
