Exhibitions to Visit in Dubai - Summer 2025
A new season of exhibitions in Dubai is upon us. As I did for the Winter/Spring season, here’s a list of exhibitions I’d like to visit, that may also interest you.
It’s scorching hot right now, and stepping out during the day is quite challenging. Maybe it is time for galleries and art institutions here to reconsider their opening hours during the summer. Perhaps opening their doors from late afternoon till 9pm or 10pm could be a better option. Just a thought.
Some of the exhibitions listed below opened during the Spring season, and some extended their dates. I’ve listed them again in case you missed them before.
If more exhibitions that interest me get announced, I’ll add them here, so do check back. Unfortunately, quite a few announce their exhibitions and events last minute. (August 9 update: new exhibitions added below)
The order of the exhibitions below are based on their opening dates.
Images and extracted text are from the exhibition websites/Instagram accounts.
From Fragments to Coherence
Sevil Dolmaci Gallery, Dubai Design District
April 8 to July 15
Deniz Ozuygur, Mommy did you used to be an artist?, 2024
Spanning various media, from sculpture and textiles to painting and installation, the exhibition highlights the interplay between materiality, memory, and meaning-making. The participating artists address themes of destruction and reconstruction as a process of both personal and collective syntheis.
Curated by İpek Ulusoy Akgül.
Artists: Cristiana de Marchi, Deniz Özuygur, Ebru Döşekçi, Hala Schoukair, Hangama Amiri, Hiba Kalache, Kıymet Daştan, Nevin Aladağ, Onur Hastürk, Sabine Boehl, Sara Al Haddad, Sage Lewis, Sinem Sezgin Bozkurt.
A Memorial in Fragments
Gulf Photo Plus, Alserkal Avenue
April 13 - August 13
Majd Arandas, A Memorial in Fragments
Majd Arandas (1994–2023) was a self-taught Palestinian photographer from the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. He was killed by an Israeli airstrike near his home in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.
Exhibiting his work in 2025, A Memorial in Fragments considers the afterlife of images, how they function not just as present-day records but as future testimony. The show presents an extensive body of work produced by Majd throughout his life, by presenting images retrieved by his brother after his tragic death.
Through contributions from family, friends and colleagues Moayad Arandas, Samar Hazboun, Maen Hammad, Rita Kabalan, Mohamed Somji and Tamara Abdul Hadi we piece together a collective narrative through the lens of his community.
Arandas’s posthumous images, retrieved by his brother, offer fragmented glimpses of his life up until his tragic death. Here, traces speak to a life marked by the quiet gestures of affection and the subtle exchanges of care.
https://gulfphotoplus.com/blogs/exhibitions/a-memorial-in-fragments
via Photo Plus UK:
This image of the parakeets cuddling on a stretched hand is one of the images exhibited and is for sale with net proceeds going to his family who evacuated out of Gaza before the borders were closed in early 2024.
Purchase it here.
Shifting Gazes: Women Through Middle Eastern Eyes
The Farjam Foundation, Gate Avenue, DIFC
April 15 – October 1
Samira Alikhanzadeh, Untitled, 2008
Spanning over eight decades of artistic production, this curated selection from The Farjam Collection brings together 27 works by artists from the region, both men and women. From the historical echoes of Qajar-inspired photography to bold contemporary interventions in pop culture, sculpture, and digital media, these artworks collectively challenge reductive stereotypes and open up a dialogue about identity, memory, resilience, and resistance.
Rather than offering a single narrative, Shifting Gazes invites viewers to reflect on multiple perspectives and cultural constructions of womanhood.
Organised into four thematic sections, the exhibition offers an expansive view of the feminine in Middle Eastern visual culture, as seen through both male and female perspectives.
Identity and Visibility
Personal and Emotional Landscapes
Tradition, Modernity, and Cultural Memory
Social Commentary and Critique
Curated by Amir Arvand.
https://www.farjamcollection.com/2025/04/16/shifting-gazes-women-through-middle-eastern-eyes/
Asunción Molinos Gordo: The Peasant, the Scholar and the Engineer
Jameel Arts Centre
April 16 – September 21
Asunción Molinos Gordo
Throughout her practice, Asunción Molinos Gordo centres the perspectives and knowledge of farming communities. She celebrates their expertise as intellectuals and engineers who design complex systems for tending to the land and growing crops, reflecting their ability to organise the world.
The Peasant, the Scholar and the Engineer spans fifteen years of Molinos Gordo’s work, tracing her journey from foundational artwork on food systems and agriculture in Egypt and the Arab world to recent investigations of Arab and Muslim heritage in her native Spain.
https://jameelartscentre.org/whats-on/asuncion-molinos-gordo-the-peasant-the-scholar-and-the-engineer/
MyLysses
XVA Gallery
May 24 - June 30
MyLysses invites viewers to experience how contemporary artists grapple with the shifting role of text, literature and knowledge in an age of AI.
Artists whose works engage with classical literature were invited to examine scientific imagery within the context of its interpretation, engage in conversations with AI identities, or consider machine sounds as creators of independent poetics.
Curated by Tor Seidel.
Artists:
Abdulghani Alanahawi, Bao Li, Brian Gonzales, Charlie Koolhaas, Christiana De Marchi, Daniela Friebel, Isaac Sullivan, Marcel Buehler, Mutasim Al Kubaisi, Jens Lystraeten, Shahad Mohamed AlBlooshi, Tor Seidel , Unaiza Ismail
Architectures of the In-Between
Aisha Alabbar Gallery, Alserkal Avenue
May 31 - August 23
Atefeh Majidi Nezhad, Revision The Wall Series, WALL 3, 2023
A group exhibition that brings together three artists whose foundational ties to architecture shape their distinctive visual languages.
With practices rooted in spatial logic, metaphysical inquiry, and embodied form, each artist navigates the threshold between structure and sentiment, material and memory, between what is seen and what is sensed.
Artists:
Atefeh Majidi Nezhad, Layla Juma, Nevine Hamza
Omar Al Gurg: Everyman’s Mountain
Lawrie Shabibi, Alserkal Avenue
May 31 - September 12
Omar Al Gurg, Everyman's Mountain: Forest – 001 , 2021
The photography series Everyman’s Mountain is a documentation of Kilimanjaro’s striking ecological diversity, captured by Al Gurg during a six-day journey in 2021.
His work offers a nuanced exploration of the mountain as a living, evolving ecosystem shaped by natural forces and human presence.
https://www.lawrieshabibi.com/exhibitions/190-omar-al-gurg-everyman-s-mountain/overview/
Surreal Lanka
RAW Coffee Company
May 31 - July 31
Onvision, Surreal Lanka
The debut solo photography exhibition by Onvision (Sai Han Seng On), it captures his journey across Sri Lanka. What began as a personal journey unfolded into a quiet reflection told through still images — exploring memory, movement, and the surreal beauty in everyday life, Surreal Lanka is a visual love letter to the island and its stories.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKPk3JlPoc4/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ10n4hP101
https://www.instagram.com/0nvision/
time heals, just not quick enough…
Efie Gallery, Alserkal Avenue
June 1 - July 30 September 27
Kelani Abass, Unfolding Layers 8, 2021
time heals, just not quick enough… brings together contemporary works in film and photography to explore the slow, fragmented, and often nonlinear processes of healing, memory, and transformation.
The moving image, fluid and unfolding, captures time in motion; the still photograph, by contrast, arrests it in a single frame. These distinct modes of seeing offer complementary perspectives: one continuous, the other punctuated. Together, they echo the rhythms of memory, grief, resilience, and hope.
Curated by Ose Ekore.
Artists: Samuel Fosso (b. 1962)
Aïda Muluneh (b. 1974)
Kelani Abass (b. 1979)
Abeer Sultan (b. 1999)
Sumaya Fallatah (b. 2000)
Nima Nabavi: In Sunrise at the Vortex
The Third Lind, Alserkal Avenue
June 15 - August 3
Nima Nabavi, Source Code, 2025
Featuring a selection of new works made by the artist between 2022 and 2025, the show marks a significant evolution in his practice, both conceptually and technically. Rooted in his travels to sites across the world considered to be energy centers by different communities, the works reflect Nabavi’s deepened commitment to introspection, geometry, and modes of making that embrace technology alongside traditional tools.
https://thethirdline.com/exhibitions/84-nima-nabavi-sunrise-at-the-vortex/
Summer Collective: Wavering Hope
Ayyam Gallery, Alserkal Avenue
June 18 - September 5
Othman Moussa, The Terror Group, 2013
Hope is a complex and often conflicting sentiment within the Syrian experience.
For over two decades of conflict, displacement, and resistance, Syrian artists have relied on their creative practices as a lifeline.
Through these practices, they have fought against erasure, preserved memory, and expressed truths too heavy for language alone. When homes and institutions were shattered, art persisted, an act of quiet defiance.
Since December 8, 2024, a new chapter began. Exiled Syrians felt the first stirrings of return. Yet even in this long-awaited moment, a deeper question surfaced: was this truly an end, or merely the next turn in a long cycle of hope and despair?
As Ayyam Gallery approaches its 20th anniversary, this moment of transformation for Syria coincides with a significant milestone for the gallery itself. Established in 2006, during a time of cultural vibrancy and promise, Ayyam Gallery has navigated the full arc of Syria’s recent history—from creative renaissance to collapse, and now to cautious renewal.
Wavering Hope reflects on that journey, presenting works by artists mapping the emotional, political, and cultural aftermath of conflict, and the fragile hope that emerges in its wake.
Artists: Abdalla Al Omari, Abdul-Karim Majdal Al-Beik, Elias Izoli, Kais Salman, Khaled Takreti, Mohannad Orabi, Nihad Al-Turk, Othman Moussa, Safwan Dahoul, Tammam Azzam, Thaier Helal, Yasmine Al Awa
https://www.ayyamgallery.com/exhibitions/273-summer-collective-wavering-hope/works/
Emirati Treasures Sealed by History: From Memory Archives to Treasures for Generations
Mohammad Bin Rashid Library
June 24 - 26
In collaboration with the Emirates Philatelic Association, the exhibition will display a rare collection of stamps marking pivotal moments in the UAE’s history.
A dedicated workshop and discussion session will provide insights into the art of collecting, documenting, and preserving national memory.
Mohammad Alfaraj: Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty
Jameel Arts Centre
June 26 - January 4, 2026
Mohammad Alfaraj, What does the water dream of? But to burst into flames, 2017
Drawing its title from Mohammad Alfaraj’s writings, the exhibition brings together installations, photography, video works and site-specific commissions that respond to the gardens and outdoor spaces of the Jameel Arts Centre.
Alfaraj, who lives and works in the oasis city of Al-Ahsa in Saudi Arabia, draws much of his source material from the area’s distinctive agricultural landscapes, oral traditions and everyday life, which he expands into universal stories and parables. Often with a touch of humour, his work frequently delves into multi-species narratives, ecological and infrastructural transformation and their impacts on communities of humans and non-humans alike.
Curated by Rotana Shaker.
https://jameelartscentre.org/whats-on/mohammad-alfaraj-seas-are-sweet-fish-tears-are-salty/
Tajammul
XVA Gallery
July 1 - September 11
A group exhibition bringing together 16 artists that capture the aesthetics of the evolving art landscape in the contemporary Middle East.
Curated by Carina Vicente.
Artists: Basil Alkazzi, Behdad Lahooti, CC (Alireza Asbahi), Charlotte de Bekker, Colleen Quigley, David Howarth, Debjani Bhardwaj, Elizabeth Dorazio, Hussein Al-Mohasen, Imran Channa, Mahmoud Hamadani, Morteza Zahedi, Moussa Tiba, Oussama Garti, Richard Ketley, Tor Seidel
No Trespassing
Ishara Art Foundation, Alserkal Avenue
July 4 - August 30
Fatspatrol, The World Out There, 2025
No Trespassing channels the aesthetics of the streets into a white cube space. Through distinct practices, six UAE-based and South Asian artists explore their relationship with the street, engaging with it as both subject and medium.
The exhibition explores what it means to speak of art in, on and from the street. The participating artists have created their works through on-site interventions, a form of mark-making that mirrors the interaction of a city with its inhabitants. By “tagging” the walls and floors of a formal exhibition space, the artists claim it as their own – challenging the perception that institutionalised forms of artistic expression hold greater cultural value.
Curated by Priyanka Mehra.
Artists:
Fatspatrol (Fathima Mohiuddin), H11235 (Kiran Maharjan), Khaled Esguerra, Rami Farook, Salma Dib, Sara Alahbabi
Tasmeem: Graphic Dissent yet?
ICD Brookfield Place, The Space, Level 1
July 8 - August 22
Showcasing 12 artworks selected through an open call, Graphic Dissent explores design as a space for memory, defiance, and imagination.
Theme developed by graphic designer and printmaker Farah Fayyad. Curated by Malak Abu-Qaoud.
Artists:
AbdulRahman Hashlamon, Daoud Tabibzada, Farah Teima, Gamila El Kordy, Hussein Khalifa & Hala Kamonah, Lama Kadri, Milad Safaa Naji, Mohamed Abdelbasit & Adam Mariod, Naz Naddaf, Nisrine Sarkis, Rami Hoballah, Ranim Al Halaky
https://icdbrookfieldplace.com/arts/
https://www.instagram.com/icdbrookfieldplace/
The Boys are Alright
Bayt AlMamzar
August 16 – October 26
The exhibition reflects on boyhood, adolescence, and the ways memory reshapes them over time. The artists, each an alum of Rashid School for Boys, navigate personal and collective archives, revisiting classrooms, corridors, and fields that shaped their early selves.
Through works that shift between image, object, and gesture, they trace the subtle transitions between past and present, innocence and self-awareness, mischief and responsibility.
The Boys are Alright returns to those years with more patience, more language, and the clarity to see them in a new light.
Curated by Jumairy.
Artists: Ahmed AlMulla, Ahmed AlSharhan, Gaith Abdulla, Hamid Al Najjar, Jumairy, Khalid Al Amimi, Maktoum Al Maktoum, Mohammed AlMaktoum, Mohammed Singel, Talal Al Najjar, Ziad Al Najjar
https://www.instagram.com/baytalmamzar
https://www.baytalmamzar.org
Jonathan Edora Sarmiento JR: Still Moving
1604 Art Space, Blue Bay Tower, Business Bay
August 21 - 31
Still Moving is an exploration on time, migration and memory through the lens of a personal yet collective narrative.
At its core is a 2008 JVC camcorder; once held by the artist’s father, and now taken up by the artist. This act of continuation transforms the device into an artifact of memory, a witness to the landscape and to the people that shape it.
Through this exhibition the artist invites viewers to reflect on migration, memory, and the identity of Dubai, to recognize that even in stillness, movement persists.
https://www.1604artspace.com/exhibitions-events/show-all/still-moving
https://www.instagram.com/1604.artspace/
https://www.instagram.com/_______jayr/
Cris Martins: Textile Choreography - Curves, Twists, Repetition and Rhythm
Kutubna Cultural Center
August 23 – September 12
Brazilian artist Cris Martins brings to Dubai an immersive showcase of fiber-based sculptures exploring rhythm, identity, and the quiet power of material.
This exhibition presents a three-part showcase that bridges tradition and contemporary expression through material, form, and narrative.
At its core is the Tubes Collection, a series of sculptural works known for their striking presence and exploration of rhythm, identity, and cultural resonance. Alongside it, the Fiq Collection introduces softer, more meditative gestures through fluid textile compositions crafted from natural fibers, including the distinctive Fiq fiber. These pieces embody a quiet, organic movement that invites introspection.
Making its debut is the Reimagining Al Sadu Collection, a thoughtful reinterpretation of local heritage. Through material exploration and abstract gesture, this new body of work pays homage to the region’s textile traditions while offering a fresh visual language.