Malda Smadi (b.1987, Damascus, Syria) lives and works in Dubai. She is an MFA in Painting candidate at the Rhode Island School of Design, USA (2023), and received her BFA in Visual Communication from the American University in Dubai, UAE in 2008. Smadi has been granted a year-long fellowship in Abu Dhabi, UAE with the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (2016-17), and is a recipient of the Sheikha Manal Young Artist Award, 1st place, Fine Arts category (2016).
Read More Read LessTarek Al-Ghoussein (1962-2022) was born in Kuwait. The child of Palestinian exiles, Al-Ghoussein also spent part of his youth in the United States, Morocco and Japan.
Sumayyah Al Suwaidi is a multiple award-winning Emirati artist based in Abu Dhabi.
Nasser Alzayani (b.1991, Manama, Bahrain) is a Bahraini-American artist living and working in Abu Dhabi.
Abdullah Al Saadi was born in 1967 and currently lives and works in Khorfakkan, in the United Arab Emirates.
Emirati, 1951-2016 Hassan Sharif was a founding member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society and of the Art Atelier in the Youth Theatre and Arts, Dubai.
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).
Working primarily with photography, video and performance, Farah Al Qasimi examines postcolonial structures of power, gender and taste in the Gulf Arab states.
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.
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.
Hanneke Reinalda-Poot was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands and has lived in Abu Dhabi since 2014.
Hadeel Al Heeti is an Iraqi-Kuwaiti artist, designer and arts educator based in Abu Dhabi.
Born in 1981, in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, Diaa Allam lives and works in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
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.
Abdelghani Alnahawi (b. Ras Al Khaimah, 1994) is a Palestinian artist who lives and works in the UAE.
Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati artist, poet, and multi-award-winning film director.
Sultan Al Remeithi was born in Abu Dhabi in 1989.
Shamsa Al Dhaheri is an Emirati artist born in 1995 in Abu Dhabi, where she currently lives and works.
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.
Ayesha Hadhir, (born 1994, Abu Dhabi, UAE) studied visual art at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at Zayed University.
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.
Zayed Temash (born 1988, Abu Dhabi, UAE) is a visual artist who received his Bachelor’s degree in business and a Master’s degree in communications from Zayed University.
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.
Taqwa Al Naqbi completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Sharjah in 2016. She is one of the participants in the SEAF programme in 2018.
Shaikha Al Ketbi is a visual artist whose multimedia practice spans photography, drawing and installation art.
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.
Born and works in Dubai. Hind Mezaina's work delves into themes of collective memory, the notion of heritage, and the representation of Dubai and the UAE in the media.
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. 1953, Sharjah Mohamed Yousif received his BA degree in Fine Arts in 1978 from the College of Fine Arts (Cairo); an MFA of Fine Arts from Webster University (St. Louis, US); as well as a PhD in Fine Arts from Manav Rachna International University (Faridabad, India).
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.
Reem Falaknaz is a photographer who’s work documents the social and physical landscape of the UAE and its inhabitants.
Rawdha Al Ketbi b.1997, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Lives and works in Abu Dhabi Rawdha Al Ketbi is an Emirati visual artist.
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.
Born in 1997, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Mahra Al Falahi lives and works in Abu Dhabi.
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.
Alaa Edris uses photography, film and performance to enact experimental mappings and manipulations of her social and urban environment.
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.
Afra Salman Al Suwaidi, Emirati born in 1992. She specialized in fine arts and received a BA Degree from Zayed University in 2016.