Looking to learn about the UAE’s contemporary arts scene? From poetry to photography and theatre to illustration, the UAE is absolutely bursting with local talent, and we’ve gathered some incredible artists from different disciplines that you definitely need to get on your radar if you want to be in the know.
Ammar Al Attar
Looking for an artist whose work is deeply rooted in the UAE’s history? Self-taught multimedia artist and photographer, Ammar Al Attar, lives in Ajman and has a studio in Sharjah. Al Attar documents, translates, and examines Emirati rituals. His ongoing research project, Reverse Moments, collects stories and artefacts that build the history of photography in the UAE. His work is held in public and private collections including Sharjah Art Foundation, Barjeel Art Foundation, and Maraya Art Centre. He’s forthcoming in Zayed National Museum and is represented by Cuadro Fine Art Gallery in Dubai’s DIFC, so don’t miss out.
Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, DIFC, Dubai, ammaralattar.com.
Augustine Paredes
Augustine Paredes is a Filipino artist and photographer based in Dubai. He is an alumna of Campus Art Dubai and International Summer School of Photography. He has exhibited across the world in the Philippines, Malaysia, Latvia, Australia, and the UAE. Parades recently self-published and sold out his first artist book: Conversations at the end of the universe. As a co-founder of Sa Tahanan Collective, Paredes aims to create a platform for Filipino art and creatives. His commercial photography is represented by Dubai-based studio, Seeing Things, and he has worked with brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Puma, Adidas, Nike, and is featured in various publications worldwide.
Seeing Things, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai augustineparedes.com.
Chie Nakano
Japanese artist Chie Nakano discovered her passion for painting at a tender age, was educated at Artium Pena Art Academy in Madrid, and has since mastered her craft of contemporary realistic brushwork in Dubai. A member of Tashkeel, she is based out of Al Fahidi Historical District, and believes that the diversity of the emirate provides a wealth of inspiration for her and her contemporaries. She helped welcome Time Out Market Dubai to town with a live, still-life session.
Tashkeel, Al Fahidi Historical District, Bur Dubai, Dubai chienakano.com.
DJ Don’t Touch My Hair
Fatma Al Bakry (otherwise known as Novemberus or DJ Don’t Touch My Hair) is serving up some serious vibes with her latest track, Island Isolation. Based between Dubai and Muscat, the talented DJ is also a fashion photographer-turned-model. Known for her famous parties, she needs no introduction on the fashion and music scenes of MENA, and curates a mix of R&B, hip-hop, and Afrobeats with a touch of nostalgia.
instagram.com/novemberus.
Joanna Settle
Looking for need-to-know names in the UAE theatre world? Joanna Settle is an artistic director and associate arts professor of theatre at NYU Abu Dhabi. She directs and collaborates on the development of world premiere plays, musicals, operas, and interdisciplinary work. A graduate of The Julliard School, she served as Artistic Director of Chicago’s Division 13 Productions and then of Shakespeare on the Sound. Settle’s recent works include a site-specific collaboration with Omani visual artist Radhika Khimji, Al Raheel (Departure) a performance work in Arabic/English created with Emirati playwright Reem Almenhali for NYUAD’s Arts Center, and Untitled Opera by Lembit Beecher with world-renowned cellist Karen Ouzounian.
NYU Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, joannasettle.com.
Nourie Flayhan
Nourie Flayhan is a Lebanese illustrator and artist based in Dubai. Her work has been featured across the world and in partnership with huge brands such as Gucci and Carolina Herrera. She focuses her art on representation to change narratives around Middle Eastern women in media and the beauty standards, Arabic poetry, women’s rights and mental health.
instagram.com/nouriflayhan.
Sarah Al Agroobi
Sarah Al Agroobi is a multidisciplinary artist and educator with an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London. Her work explores culture and identity in Arab and Western contexts through colonial discourse. She is the founder of The Letters Project, an online platform that aims to showcase anonymous letters from the MENA region, and she’s the co-curator of BANAT Collective, a creative community that discusses intersectionality, gender and identity politics in the Arab world. Her work has gathered the attention in leading design magazines and she has been exhibited regionally and internationally.
sarahalagroobi.com.
Shamma Al Bastaki
Award-winning Emirati poet and artist, Shamma Al Bastaki is a powerhouse on the UAE’s literary and artistic scene. She has been an ambassador for the Louvre Abu Dhabi since 2015 and was selected for the Salama Bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship. She won the 2019 ADMAF Creativity Award for her ethno-poetry collection Bayt la bayt (House to House). Al Bastaki is an inaugural member of the Cultural Office Women’s Creative Network launched by HH Sheikha Manal Bint Monammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum and she is the co-founder of JARA Collective, a chapbook poetry press.
jaracollective.net.
Tarek Al Ghoussein
Tarek Al-Ghoussein is an artist and professor of visual art at NYU Abu Dhabi. He is a Kuwaiti of Palestinian origin based in Abu Dhabi, and his work explores the boundaries between landscape photography, self-portraiture and performance art. Al Ghoussein has exhibited extensively in Europe, the US and Middle East. His work has been acquired by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; the British and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; the Sharjah Art Foundations; the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo; the Royal Photography Museum in Copenhagen; and the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, among several others.
NYU Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.
