Hanneke Reinalda-Poot was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 2014. Since finishing her bachelor’s degree in Clinical Chemistry/Biochemistry, she has worked for 17 years in the field of biochemical research at the University Hospital of Leiden, The Netherlands. Thanks to her husband’s job, she has had the chance to live in several countries around the world, one of which was India. Throughout her life, Reinalda-Poot has practiced all kinds of arts and crafts (hand embroidery, sewing, knitting, silk painting etc.). It was in India that she started teaching arts and crafts to disadvantaged children for nearly four years, one of the most wonderful experiences of her life. Returning to The Netherlands, she finished two years’ study in Textile Art/Art Quilting. It was/is for her the ideal combination of doing research by manipulating fabric (fabric dyeing/rusting) and being creative by practicing arts and crafts (designing /printing/stitching etc.) It is the chemist in her who wants to play with fabrics. She has been President of the Capital City Quilters of Abu Dhabi for about three years, she has worked for the Al Ghadeer Craft Organisation to help design new products while preserving the traditional handicrafts of the UAE, and since 2019 she has been an Artist in Residence at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi.
The inspiration for her work comes from her environment. Art is a beautiful way to express impressions, memories and emotions.
Read More Read LessSumayyah Al Suwaidi is a multiple award-winning Emirati artist based in Abu Dhabi.
Abdullah Al Saadi was born in 1967 and currently lives and works in Khorfakkan, in the United Arab Emirates.
Born in Saida, Lebanon, in 1964, Jeffar Khaldi relocated to Texas at the age of 16 to avoid forcible militia recruitment during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90).
Tasnim Tinawi is an architect based in the UAE whose work spans the disciplines of architecture, art, and installation.
Wid Al Bayaty’s practice engages autobiographical memory to examine obstruction, fragmentation, and rebuilding, as recurring cycles encountered through the body.
Tala Worrell (b. 1991, New York) is a Lebanese-American painter who grew up in Abu Dhabi.
Simrin Mehra Agarwal lives and works in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Mays Albaik is a Palestinian artist with an interdisciplinary visual practice triangulating body, language, and place.
Malda Smadi (b.1987, Damascus, Syria) lives and works in Dubai.
Jonny Farrow (born 1969, Kentucky, USA) has shown and presented work in the United States, Sweden, United Kingdom, Kuwait, and has had two solo and multiple group exhibits in the United Arab Emirates.
James Matthews is a British maker and art educator, currently working in the UAE.
Hadeel Al Heeti is an Iraqi-Kuwaiti artist, designer and arts educator based in Abu Dhabi.
Christopher Benton (b. 1988, USA) is a UAE-based artist working across sculpture, photography, and film.
Arthur de Oliveira is a filmmaker, poet, artist and theatre practitioner from Limeira, São Paulo, Brazil.
Ali Hammad was born in 1985 in Quetta, Pakistan.
Born in 1984 in Mezzouna, Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Abdessalem Elfalah lives and works in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati artist, poet, and multi-award-winning film director.
Sultan Al Remeithi was born in Abu Dhabi in 1989.
Sarah Almehairi was born in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in 1998, where she currently lives and works.
Eman Al Hashemi is an artist based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
ARUUA (born 1995, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) makes paintings, drawings, and mixed media artworks.
Ahmad Saeed Al Areef (born 1988, Al Ain, UAE) is an Emirati multidisciplinary artist.
Saoud Al Dhaheri (b. 1987, Al Ain, UAE) joined the Higher Collages of Technology Photography Club, and later the Emirates Photography Society, to pursue his artistic passion.
Shaikha Al Mazrou (b. 1988, UAE) received her MFA in 2014 at the Chelsea College of Fine Art, University of the Arts, London where she was awarded the prestigious MFA Student Prize.
Born in 1989, mixed media artist Maitha Abdallah oscillates between the diaphanous, vibrant and surreal; her art is always marked by an atmosphere of reminiscence and nostalgia.
Emirati, b. 1967, Abu Dhabi JALAL LUQMAN Is an Emirati mixed media Artist, Sculptor, Curator and Author, an active personality in the UAE’s art scene for more than three decades.
As Edward T.Hall said, “The relationship between man and the cultural dimension is one in which both man and his environment participate in molding each other”
Fatima Farah is an Emirati artist, born in 1991 and residing in Abu Dhabi.
Emirati, b. 1962, Ras Al Khaimah Salma Al Marri obtained her BA in Fine Arts (painting) from Cairo University in Egypt in 1985.
Emirati, b. 1955, Ras Al Khaimah Obaid Suroor received his BA in Fine Arts from Cairo University. He is a founding member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society, and head of the Society’s atelier in Ras Al Khaimah.
Emirati, b. 1956, Dubai Najat Makki obtained her BA and MFA in Relief Sculpture and Metal from the College of Fine Arts in Cairo, where she also received her PhD in Philosophy of Art in 2001.
Emirati, b. 1958, Kuwait Mona Al Khaja received her BA from the College of Fine Arts at the University of Helwan (Cairo, 1981).
Emirati, b. 1960, Dubai Mohammed Al Qassab is a self-taught artist who first took interest in art at the age of 17, and more recently completed an art residency at the Lepsien Art Foundation.
Emirati, b. 1962, Khorfakkan Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim studied art at the Emirates Fine Arts Society, mentored by artist Hassan Sharif and by the avant-garde poet, Ahmed Rashid Thani (originally a librarian in Khor Fakkan, the latter went on to become librarian at the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi).
Emirati, b. 1962, Egypt Mohamed Al Mazrouei alternates living and working between Abu Dhabi and Cairo. He studied comparative religion at Al Azhar University in Cairo, in addition to Greek and Latin.
Emirati, b. 1968, Khorfakkan Mohammed Al Astad first studied art with Mohammed Aziz Al Khani at the UAE University in Al Ain. He has been a member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society since 1987.
Emirati, b. 1961, Jerusalem Mahmoud Jameel Al Ramahi lives and works in Abu Dhabi, where he has been an active member of the artistic community since the 1980s - including founding and chairing Friends of Art - Abu Dhabi Cultural Society (1986-1996).
Emirati, b.1967, Abu Dhabi Khulood Al Jabri received her BA in Media Geography from Al Ain University in 1986, in addition to a Diploma in Management from Abu Dhabi University and a training certificate in Arts and Crafts from the SB Academy in England.
Emirati, b. 1951, Dubai Abdulrahman Zainal obtained his BA in Fine Arts (Interior Design) in 1979 from Helwan University, Cairo, as well as an MFA in Fine Arts from the Edinburgh College of Art in 1980.
Born in 1955, Abdulrahim Salim is a pioneering Emirati artist who helped to shape the arts scene in the United Arab Emirates.
Emirati, b. 1951, Dubai Abdul Qader Al Rais received his Bachelor’s degree in Sharia Law from the UAE University in Al Ain and developed his artistic practice independently.
Asma Khoory is an artist born in Dubai, she graduated in 2017 with a BFA from Zayed University, and in 2018 she was part of the fifth cohort of The Salama Bint Hamdan Emerging Artist Fellowship in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design.
Sarah Alagroobi is a multidisciplinary artist and educator with an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London.
Noura is an artist driven by excavating the relationships between the known and the unknown. She explores means of uncovering her family history and genealogy through archival research and re-engineered narratives.
Mohammed Kazem (born 1969, Dubai) lives and works in Dubai. He has developed an artistic practice that encompasses video, photography and performance to find new ways of apprehending his environment and experiences.
Khalid Mezaina graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2006 with a BS in Visual Communication.
Juma, a Sharjah native raised between the UAE and the USA, received an art mentorship under resident artist Ted Ramsey, at the New School of Northern Virginia.
Born in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, Ameena Aljarman earned her double majors bachelor of Fine Arts and International Studies at Zayed University.
Alia Al Mazrooei is an Emirati interior designer. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from Zayed University in 2017.
Al Anood Al Obeidli is Emirati Visual Artist from Abu Dhabi, UAE. She earned a BA in Visual Arts from the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi (2013), and she is an alumna of the Emerging Artists Fellowship Program, Sheikha Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, Abu Dhabi (2014).
Aisha Al Ahmadi, born in 1997, and raised in Abu Dhabi, UAE, is an artist, writer, and aspiring curator.