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DubaiEvents

by Alexandra Mansilla

Your Week In Dubai: What To Do, July 8–14

8 Jul 2025

Photo: Moist Paper Party x Analog The Room

Not sure what to do or where to go? There is always a ton happening, but actually picking something isn’t always easy. If you’ve been asking yourself the same thing, glad you found this guide. We put together a weekly calendar with all the best stuff: parties, exhibitions, great food spots… basically, everything we’d want to check out ourselves.

July 8, Tuesday. No Trespassing

What comes to mind when you think of “the street”? Maybe crowds, traffic, beautiful buildings… or chaos. Maybe it is calm, or maybe it is all about skaters doing their thing. Now imagine squeezing all those vibes into a single, small space. Not so easy, right? Streets are meant to be big, wide-open places. But that is exactly what the No Trespassing show at Ishara Art Foundation manages to pull off.
This exhibition brings together six UAE-based and South Asian artists: Fatspatrol (Fathima Mohiuddin), H11235 (Kiran Maharjan), Khaled Esguerra, Rami Farook, Salma Dib, and Sara Alahbabi. Each artist explores their own take on the street, not just as a subject, but as a medium in itself.
Why you should go: Because it is a rare chance to see the impossible mix of street art and street energy, all packed into a white cube gallery that is the opposite of a street. How do these works, made for the outside world, behave in a space that shouldn’t fit them (or maybe it fits them perfectly after all)?
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Rami Farook. Traces in the artist’s studio, created in 2023–24. Photo: courtesy of the artist

July 9, Wednesday. Howl’s Moving Castle

Even if you have seen it a million times, make it a million and one. And if you haven’t? You have got to fix that. Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Howl’s Moving Castle, is showing on the big screen at Cinema Akil — in Japanese, with English subtitles.
It is the perfect way to disappear into another universe for a couple of hours and forget about everything else for a while.
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July 10, Thursday. Have a good dinner

Go ahead and book yourself a table somewhere nice tonight — solo, with a plus one, or bring the whole crew. Unplug from the screens, forget about work for a bit, and just hang out.
Where to go? Our picks:
— Kinoya
— Duo
— Orfali
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Instagram: @kinoya.ae, @duo.uae, @orfalibros_bistro

July 11, Friday. Stay in or go out?

If you don’t feel like going out, just stay in and catch up on the new season of Squid Game on Netflix or check out Your Friends & Neighbours on Apple TV+. Sometimes you just need a chill night.
But if you do want to get out, Monkey Bar’s got you covered: Low End Therapy, hosted by Mixed Feelings and Honeytrap — a night of deep frequencies and emotional release.
When? 9 pm until security kicks everyone out.
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Instagram: @monkeybardubai

July 12, Saturday. Moist Paper Party

For the past three years, Kirill Zhan and Cyrill Reaidy have been throwing what is probably the most famous (maybe even the only?) anti-party in Dubai. Nobody ever knows what music they will play. And the location is always a story in itself. For every party, Kirill and Cyrill dig through old Dubai neighbourhoods to find those secret spots no one has ever heard of — the kind of places nobody else would ever think to throw a party in.
On July 12 at 10 pm, they are following up their recent Moist anniversary party with another round — because why stop celebrating? Behind the decks: Cyrill Reaidy and Miriam Sablouni (aka Kira).
How to get in? Just RSVP via DM — hit them up on Instagram.
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Photo: Moist Paper Party x Analog The Room

July 13, Sunday. Out for breakfast

Sundays are made for slow mornings and really good breakfasts. Why not make it special and try somewhere new?
Our picks (and you will probably run into one of us)
— Duo
— Bizou
— HEAL
— Skm'd
And after breakfast, head over to the event hosted by Jameel Art Centre and Fujifilm — an immersive, creative deep-dive into photography, branding, and the UAE’s indie music scene.
From 2.30 pm to 6.00 pm, PEACE BE WITH YOU: Turning Brand Vision into Creative Direction brings together designer Abdulla Obaid of Peace Venue and photographer Daniel Zacatenco for a hands-on session on turning your brand ideas into reality. Expect a live shoot, behind-the-scenes insights into creative direction, and a special Peace Venue pop-up with their latest collection.
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Instagram: @skmddubai, @_common.grounds_, @heal.ae

July 14, Monday. Nothing

Honestly, we don’t recommend doing much on Monday. Work if you have to, but please — make it a rule: no work calls on Mondays. Tuesday? Okay. Monday? No.