Nasser Alzayani (b.1991, Manama, Bahrain) is a Bahraini-American artist living and working in Abu Dhabi. Alzayani’s practice expresses a research-driven documentation of time and place through text and image, as well as found and cast objects. Incorporating themes of factual and fictional archaeology, his most recent work explores alternative narratives of collective experience.
Alzayani’s group exhibitions include Kissing Through A Curtain, MASS MoCA, North Adams, USA (2020); The Youth Takeover, Jameel Art Centre, Dubai, UAE (2020); Glass Triennial, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, USA (2019); _____scapes, Gelman Gallery, Providence, USA (2019); Bayn, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2017); and Watering the distant, deserting the near, Al Riwaq, Bahrain (2016).
Alzayani is a recipient of the Fundación Casa Wabi x ArtReview Residency (2017) and the Villa Lena Foundation Residency (2018), and is a current artist in residence at the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi (2021).
He has an MFA in Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design (2019) and a BArch from American University of Sharjah (2015).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”
Dhabiya Al Rumaithi’s interest in art started at an early age.
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. 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. 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).
Born and works in Abu Dhabi. Afra Al Dhaheri’s work is rooted in her experiences growing up in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE – a place of recent and rapid change.
Abdalla Almulla a Dubai based Architect/Designer founder of MULA, a creative practice that is driven by the creative energy, which is constantly in flux; creating new ideas and developing them as the design advances.
Shamma Al Amri is an artist from the UAE. She holds two MA degrees: the first in Culture and Creative Industries from Abu Dhabi HCT and the second in Contemporary Art Practice from the Royal College of Art in London.
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.
Moza Almatrooshi is a UAE based conceptual artist, writer, and chef. She obtained an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art in London, UK in 2019.
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.
Maitha Hamdan is a conceptual artist who explores her art through different mediums such as performances and art installation.
Born in 1997, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Mahra Al Falahi lives and works in Abu Dhabi.
Ebtisam AbdulAziz, born in 1975 Sharjah, UAE, lives between Abu Dhabi and Washington DC. Ebtisam is a multidisciplinary artist and writer, holds a bachelor’s degree in science and mathematics from the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain.
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.
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.