Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks of 2025
Compared to last year, I visited more exhibitions in Dubai and abroad. I started listing exhibitions in Dubai that interest me here on the blog on a quarterly basis, as recommendations for readers, and for me not to forget visiting them. These are the links, aiming to continue doing this:
Exhibitions to visit in Dubai - Winter/Spring 2025
Exhibitions to visit in Dubai - Summer 2025
Exhibitions to visit in Dubai - Autumn 2025
Exhibitions to visit in Dubai - Winter 2025/2026
Below is a list of my top 15 exhibitions of the year, starting with my number 1 followed by exhibitions in alphabetical order.
I’ve also listed 25 other exhibitions / artworks I liked below the top 15, just to show there really were more exhibitions I enjoyed visiting his year.
This is followed by text, a selection of observations and reflections, highlights and gripes I’ve experienced in the UAE ‘art world’ this year.
NOTE:
- All photos in this post are by me except where credited.
- I’ve linked to all the relevant exhibition websites, except for the ones that aren’t updated. All I have to say about this is, website admins at art institutions - come on!
1. Boris Mikhailov: Ukrainian Diary
The Photographers’ Gallery, London (October 10, 2025 - February 22, 2026)
This exhibition sparked the urge to pick up my camera again, I have a few unfinished rolls from this year and have not been photographing much lately. I wasn’t aware of Boris Mikhailov before this exhibition. He was self taught and “described as an outsider, a trickster and ‘a kind of proto-punk’”.
I was inspired by his documentation of a time and place, that includes experimental and documentary style photography, showing joy and hardship during social and political hardships.
Curated by Laurie Hurwitz and Shoair Mavlian in dialogue with Boris and Vita Mikhailov.
“Since the 1960s, he has been creating a powerful record of the tumultuous changes in Ukraine that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Viewed today, against the backdrop of current events and ongoing war in Ukraine, Mikhailov's work is all the more poignant and enlightening.”
https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/whats-on/boris-mikhailov-ukrainian-diary
2. Aliyah Alawadhi: Girl Parts
Bayt Al Mamzar, Dubai (November 15, 2025 - January 4, 2026)
My literacy is low when it comes to painting, but I found myself drawn to Aliya Alawadhi’s paintings of young women, a depiction that is confrontational, dreamy, and cheeky.
Curated by Océane Sailly.
“These are not nostalgic visions of innocence but reimaginings of “girl”: an ancient inheritance of edicts around beauty, shame, and desire, rewritten here with magic, rage, and much speculation.” — Océane Sailly
https://hunna.art/exhibitions/31-girl-parts-by-aliyah-alawadhi/overview/
3. Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World
National Portrait Gallery (October 9, 2025 - January 11, 2026)
The works in this exhibition made me think it is from a lost era of portraiture and fashion photography in magazines. There’s an art of style and elegance from that period that we don’t see in magazines today. Some of the silver gelatine photos that had sparkly fashion and set design are breathtaking. This exhibition is a good double bill with Lee Miller (no. 5 in this list).
Curated by Robin Muir.
https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2025/cecil-beaton/
Step into Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World with curator Robin Muir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24zfQJH0SHY
4. Image Keepers: Photographic Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection
Photography Gallery, Sharjah (November 8, 2025– April 26, 2026)
One of two exhibitions in the new Photography Gallery, a considered grouping of works about history, conflict, migration, decolonisation, modernisation, and memory.
Curated by Jiwon Lee, Head of Curatorial, and Nada Ammagui and Osemudiamen Ekore, Curatorial Assistants, with Souraya Kreidieh and Shahd Murshed, Collection Department, Sharjah Art Foundation.
5. Lee Miller
Tate Modern, London (October 2, 2025 - February 15, 2026)
This exhibition had around 250 vintage and modern prints, some displayed for the first time. Even though it was busy when I visited and wasn’t able to spend more time with the photos, it was still an extremely satisfying and inspiring visit. Some of the vintage black and white prints made me gasp because of their quality and how good they look compared to lots of prints made today.
A biopic about Lee Miller starring Kate Winslet was released last year, but I never got a chance to watch it. Will seek it out and watch it at home soon.
Curated by Hilary Floe and Saskia Flower.
“First exposed to a camera by working in front of it, Miller was one of the most sought-after models of the late 1920s. She quickly stepped behind the lens, becoming a leading figure in the avant-garde scenes in New York, Paris, London and Cairo.
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/lee-miller
Photos via tate.org, courtesy of © Lee Miller Archives, England 2024. All rights reserved. leemiller.co.uk
6. Lives Less Ordinary: Working-Class Britain Re-seen
Two Temple Place, London (January 25 – April 20)
This was my first time I visited Two Temple Place. I really liked how the space was used for this exhibition. More importantly, a celebration of artists from working-class backgrounds in the UK who made work about their communities from their own perspectives and experiences. The exhibition included photography, film, painting, sculpture and ceramics.
Curated by Samantha Manton.
7. The Face Magazine: The Culture Shift
National Portrait Gallery, London (February 20 - May 18)
As a teen in the 1980s, my pop culture knowledge came from British and American magazines. Today we have have the ‘Arabia’ or ‘Middle East’ or ‘MENA’ versions, but like most of mainstream international magazines today, they lack the punch and spirit of rebellion found in several titles from the pre-2000s. Additionally, these regional versions mostly replicate Western centric styles of ‘representation’ in their editorials and photo shoots, a bigger topic to dig into another time.
There’s no denying that print media has been struggling for a long time, and it is difficult to be uniquely creative - (almost) everything has already been done. This exhibition was a reminder of the hey days of magazines, and the ones that stood out that actually created an impact.
Curated by Sabina Jaskot-Gill, Senior Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, together with Curatorial Consultants Lee Swillingham, former Art Director of The Face from 1992 to 1999, and Norbert Schoerner, a photographer whose work featured in the magazine throughout the nineties and noughties.
https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2025/face-magazine/
8. Nadine Ghandour: Rooms for Error
Bayt Al Mamzar, Dubai (February 23 - May 18)
Surreal and playful exhibition about living and feeling in fast changing and unstable environments.
Curated by Dawn Ross.
”Drawing from her experiences in Dubai, Sharjah, Cairo, and Rotterdam, Rooms for Error examines the fast-forward city—a place where infrastructure struggles to keep up with expansion, where characters exist in a state of chronic uncertainty, and where architecture itself seems on the verge of collapse. The works reflect on the adaptability, or failure of the human body in these unstable environments.”
https://www.baytalmamzar.org/portfolio
9. Nima Nabavi: Sunrise at the Vortex
The Third Line, Dubai (15 June - 3 August)
Nima Nabavi’s geometrical drawings are hypnotising, and I’m envious of the patience and discipline it takes to make these works, some that are large scale. Most of my photos here are details of some of the pieces exhibited.
https://thethirdline.com/exhibitions/84-nima-nabavi-sunrise-at-the-vortex/
10. Noor Al Suwaidi: Matissage-A Fusion of Color & Form
Alliance Française, Dubai (March 18 - April 25)
A cheerful and breezy exhibition, made even more enjoyable because of the fun atmosphere when visited. Noor was running a children’s workshop and it was cute to see their works inspired by the exhibition, and for a short while their works were also hung on the walls which made them very happy. I love it when an an artist makes an effort to make their works accessible to children. More of this please.
“Influenced by the improvisational nature of jazz, Al Suwaidi, much like Matisse, allows music to guide her brushstrokes, creating a dynamic interplay of sound and form. Her work also embraces the rich heritage of Islamic art while pushing the boundaries of modern abstraction, forging a dialogue between past and present, tradition and innovation.”
https://www.afdubai.org/event-detail/?eventId=2535#/
11. Saul Leiter: An Unfinished World
Foam, Amsterdam (January 23 - April 20)
I’m a big fan of Saul Leiter’s photography. I especially love his compositions. I don’t think he is celebrated enough, and hope I get to see more if his works in other exhibitions,
Curated by Anne Morin.
“A major retrospective exhibition of the celebrated American artist Saul Leiter (1923–2013). Leiter is seen as one of the most important photographers of the 1950’s in the United States and a pioneer of colour photography. This exhibition brings together over 200 works, consisting of photography, both black-and-white and colour, as well as his abstract paintings. His eclectic oeuvre reveals a practice using shadow, light, and reflections to craft layered compositions.”
12. Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style
Design Museum, London (March 28 - August 17)
This exhibition was absolutely delightful. As a fan of swim culture and a swimmer myself, it was great to visit an exhibition dedicated to this sport, from a design, social, and cultural perspective, even though it was mostly UK centric.
It included more than 200 objects, including Pamela Anderson's Baywatch swimsuit, the first Olympic solo swimming gold medal won by a British woman, and a selection of swimsuits from different decades.
Curated by Amber Butchart.
“Across three in-depth sections that reflect the three locations in which we swim — the pool, the lido and nature — the exhibition dives into design’s role in shaping our relationship with swimming, both in the water and beside it.
The exhibition’s story starts in the 1920s, when swimwear began to be marketed for swimming rather than the Victorian’s preference for bathing, and when beach holidays exploded in popularity. It explores right up to the present day, and swimming’s role in modern life such as how it influences and subverts our ideas of body autonomy and agency, as well as its link to environmental issues.”
https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/splash-a-century-of-swimming-and-style
Amber Butchart talking about the exhibition: https://youtu.be/RyoCSJjcAiQ?si=-9Z-RDjpTfhNSx_Y
13. Sport in Art. The Art of Sport
Museum of Yugoslavia, Belgrade (September 23 2025 - January 26, 2026)
Another delightful exhibition, and so unassuming. I visited it on a rainy day in Belgrade after being stuck in a traffic in a crowded bus for almost an hour. I had intended to visit all the exhibitions in this museum, but when I saw some parts were busy with people, I made my way to this one which was empty, with nice views of the city, albeit the views were grey and wet.
It is a touring exhibition that was first presented at the Cultural Center of Serbia in Paris, before the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games. It was the kind of exhibition and space I needed after being stuck in a crowded bus, and felt like a breath of fresh air.
“Through more than 60 works of art and numerous museum objects created from 1858 to 2018, visitors will have the opportunity to see how sport and art have together shaped cultural identity for more than a century and a half. The exhibition features works by leading Serbian artists, as well as works by world-renowned authors, along with sports equipment, medals and photographs that testify to the rich sports history and the participation of Yugoslav and Serbian athletes in the Olympic Games.”
https://muzej-jugoslavije.org/en/exhibition/sport-u-umetnosti-umetnost-sporta/
14. time heals, just not quick enough…
Efie Gallery, Dubai (June 1 - September 27)
This was my first time at Efie Gallery. I liked the space, the works and the way they were exhibited. Also, my favourite exhibition title this year.
Launched in 2021, the gallery aims to show works by artists of African origin, “both from the African continent and its global diaspora”. They also host artist residencies, and have a room displaying a collection of rare vinyls from around the world that belongs to founders of the gallery.
Curated by Ose Ekore.
“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. — Ose Ekore
https://efiegallery.com/articles/time-heals-just-not-quick-enough
15. Women in Contemporary Arab Art
Kutubna Cultural Center, Dubai (April 26 - May 18)
An exhibition of 35 works from the private collection of International House Group, a privately owned medium-sized real estate family business based in Dubai, The works have been collected over 25 years and includes paintings, drawings, and mixed media.
“Presenting 35 evocative works by some of the Arab world’s most visionary modern and contemporary artists - a celebration of womanhood in all its complexity, dignity, and beauty. Spanning from 1945 to 2011…Here, women are represented in a variety of social roles, as mothers, workers, individuals, and icons, embodied across generations of Arab artistic expression.”
Other exhibitions / artworks I liked, in alphabetical order of their titles:
Abdullah Al Saadi: Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia, 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi (January 30 - May 4)
Arab Journalism, Mohammed Bin Rashid Library, Dubai (November 2024 - Ongoing)
Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s, Design Museum, London (September 20 - March 29, 2026)
A Cage Went in Search of a Bird, 1x1 Gallery, Dubai (November 16 - January 28, 2026)
From Fragments to Coherence, Sevil Dolmaci Gallery, Dubai Design District (April 8 to July 15)
Gilbert & George: 21ST CENTURY PICTURES, Hayward Gallery, London (October 7 – January 11, 2026)
The importance of staying quiet | Lala Rukh I, Grey Noise, Dubai (September 18 – November 05)
The importance of staying quiet | Lala Rukh II, Grey Noise, Dubai (November 16 - January 17, 2026)
Leigh Bowery!, Tate Modern, London (February 27 - August 31)
Linder: Danger Came Smiling, Hayward Gallery, London (February 11 – May 5)
The Only Way Out Is Through: The Twentieth Line, The Third Line (September 18 - December 28)
Our Film Museum, Yugoslav Film Archive, Belgrade (Permanent Exhibition)
Paper Jam, Hobb Design & Visual Culture Bookshop, Dubai (February 21 - March 3)
Robbie Williams: Pride and Self Prejudice, MOCO, Amsterdam (March 8, 2024 - December 31, 2025)
Photographic Encounters along the Gulf Coasts, Photography Gallery, Sharjah (Permanent Display)
Prix Pictet: Storm, Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai (October 17 - December 13)
The Sky Appears in You, 1604 Art Space, Dubai (December 11 - 21)
Solimar Miller: Symphony of the Wetlands, XVA Gallery, Dubai (February 15 – March 20)
Still Moving by Jonathan Edora Sarmiento JR, 1604 Art Space, Dubai (August 21 - 31)
Surreal Lanka by Onvision (Sai Han Seng On), RAW Coffee Company (May 31 - July 31)
+
Specific works:AURORA, Ana Escobar Saavedra, 2025, from It Starts Where It Ends, 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi (May 18 - 7 September)
CELESTE, Ana Escobar Saavedra, 2023, from It Starts Where It Ends, 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi (May 18 - 7 September)
My Mothers, Hoda Tawakol, Three-channel video, 2025, from Hoda Tawakol: My Mothers: The Siren, The Vessel, The Womb, Gallery Isabelle, Dubai (February 4 - March 28)
The Sea is a Body Which Moves, Adele Bea Cipste, 2025, from Unstable Grounds: NYUAD MFA Graduate Exhibition 2025, 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi (May 18 - September 7)
From Sharjah Biennial 16: To Carry, Al Mureijah Square (February 6 - June 15)
- Works by Nasser Al Yousif
- Non-Aligned Newsreels Project, Mila Turajlić, 2016–ongoing
- Photo Kegham of Gaza Project, Kegham Djeghalian Sr and Kegham Djeghalian Jr, 2020-2024
Observations and reflections, highlights and gripes experienced in the UAE ‘art world’ this year:
New Museums:
Plans for a new Dubai Museum of Art (DUMA) was announced in October.
A new Photography Gallery in Sharjah opened in November, and personally I am very happy we finally have a museum quality space dedicated to photography. It is part of Sharjah Art Foundation and is in a restored building from the 1970s that used to be a telecommunications building in the Al Manakh district in central Sharjah.
Zayed National Museum and National History Museum opened in November in Abu Dhabi. Not had a chance to visit yet.
Anniversaries:
In Dubai, Green Art Gallery turned 30 and The Third Line turned 20. thejamjar also turned 20, but I’ve not had a chance to write about this, but will do soon. My brother was commissioned to make a special window illustration to mark this anniversary, you can read about it here.
In Abu Dhabi, 421 Arts Campus celebrated 10 years.
A lot of these organisation’s archive of exhibitions/events aren’t available on their own websites and really hope this gets fixed. I recently wrote about the first few years of The Third Line, an important and lost chapter for anyone that did not experience those years. It was also interesting to see who was and wasn’t included by a couple of these organisations when they marked their milestone anniversaries.
I received Louvre Abu Dhabi’s latest newsletter a few days ago, it was signed by its director Manuel Rabaté and included, “…we are beginning to look toward the museum’s tenth anniversary in 2027, with the coming months quietly marking the start of this countdown.”
I’m now predicting more UAE art organisations will start preparing for their upcoming milestone anniversaries, and try to outdo each other.
Western Branded Affairs:
Abu Dhabi Art will be Frieze Abu Dhabi in November 2026, this was announced a few months after news about Art Basel Qatar launching in February 2026.
Prada Mode Abu Dhabi
NOMAD Abu Dhabi
Alserkal Avenue has partnered with Design Miami for a Dubai edition in 2027. With Dubai Design Week, how many design fairs does this city need?
Biennials, exhibitions and artworks that don’t say anything
In July, Frieze published The Rise of Vaporwave Curating - At a time of so many deepening crises, why are we afraid of saying what we really mean?, an article by Rahel Aima that articulated how I’ve been feeling about lots of what I saw across the UAE this year.
”This is curating in the passive voice. Even as exhibitions lovingly celebrate the concept of agency, they mimic the sleight of hand found in newspaper headlines that report people were bombed, were killed, happened to starve. Such phrasing erases actors along with any sense of complicity, responsibility or the need for reparations. It allows everyone to agree that it’s just terrible what’s happening, but we’re all in this together. This narrative stems from the dangerous assumption that the art world is inherently progressive, even radical – and that a singular ‘art world’ exists at all.”
and
“At a time when change in the present feels impossible, engaging with the struggles and successes of the past can have a mollifying, escapist effect. But I’m tired of ‘go girl give us nothing’ as curatorial strategy. I want to see shows that have stakes, that have a point of view, that are deeply rooted in their time and place, or at the very least in conversation with them. What if every curator started with the questions ‘why this’, ‘why now’ and ‘why specifically here’? We have nothing to lose but our emotional support biennials.”
Also there’s a general sense of sameness in art biennials, art fairs, design fairs - a case of the usual suspects curating or participating artists, floating between all three, some where their practice does not even fit with the event/exhibition. Even certain concepts and designs of exhibition catalogues and booklets are copied work done by other institutions here.
Others:
The word “vulnerability” has been used a lot this year.
Art institutions that don’t pay on time.
When visiting exhibitions in Alserkal Avenue, I’m always worried if I’ll get hit by a car. Their existing pedestrian spaces aren’t wide enough and usually obstructed by vehicles or big plants, which makes it difficult to enjoy walking especially during busy hours of the day. Also, galleries next to loud cafes - not keen on hearing Bruno Mars whilst looking at art.
The increased toxic positivity of the art scene here - lots of self-congratulatory, gaslighting, and hardly any room for critical or meaningful dialogue or even questions, even in closed groups.
Culture workers by day and practicing artists night - many examples of people who don’t have the experience or the right skills for their day jobs, also not a good look for the institutions that hired them. Quoting a friend when we were discussing this point where we both agreed there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a full time job and pursuing your artistic practice, but “just don’t suck at your job”.
Favourites from previous years:
Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks 2024
Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks 2023
Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks 2022
Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks 2021
Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks 2020
Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks 2019
Favourite Exhibitions/Artworks 2018
Favourite Exhibitions, Artworks 2017
Favourite Exhibitions, Artworks 2016
Favourite Exhibitions 2015
Favourite Exhibitions 2014