Running until February 8, the Ras Al Khaimah Art 2026 Festival returns to Al Jazirah Al Hamra Heritage Village — the UAE’s last remaining intact pearling village. Now in its 14th edition, the month-long festival brings contemporary art into a historic setting, combining exhibitions with performances, workshops, film screenings, guided tours, and food programmes.

Part of the wider Ras Al Khaimah Art initiative, the festival has grown into a year-round platform that supports artists through education, grants, and public programmes. This year’s edition brings together 106 artists from 49 nationalities, alongside local, regional, and international collaborators, continuing to position Ras Al Khaimah as a place where art, heritage, and community intersect.

We spoke with Dr. Natasha Ridge, Executive Director of Ras Al Khaimah Art, about how the festival has evolved over the years, why working with history feels especially relevant today, and how Ras Al Khaimah is shaping its own cultural identity within the region.

— Natasha, to start with, could you give us a brief introduction to the festival and why it is important?

— The festival is important because it brings together the community of Ras Al Khaimah. We wanted to create something where people could walk around and experience history and art at the same time. We drew inspiration from La Gacilly, France, which hosts an outdoor photo festival.

The village itself is an abandoned pearling village. It was largely abandoned by the Azar tribe in the 1970s, who mostly relocated to Abu Dhabi. After that, it remained empty, with very little happening. A restoration programme began around 2011–2014, with gradual restoration over time.

When we first held the festival here, it was the first time the public really started to come back and experience the village through the festival. Now, we are also involved in running the village itself. We are responsible for operations and for ensuring there is an active art programme, as well as education and history programmes. We work closely with the Department of Antiquities, who handle the conservation and restoration of the site.

— What is the big idea behind the village?

— The village is about helping people connect with the UAE’s past, to understand what life was like before: how people lived, the intimacy of it, the small lanes, and what daily life in a pearling village looked like. I think it is really like a time capsule.

— It is very interesting that you are talking about the past, because, in the UAE, the focus is often on moving forward and thinking about the future. But I think the past is extremely important for understanding the future.

— Definitely, because if you don’t know where you have been, you don’t really know where you are going. For us, that is a big part of the mission — especially when it comes to younger generations. We have a strong education programme, both within the festival and at the village itself, so that young people can see what the past was like: how their forebears lived, what daily life looked like.

They can see how water was drawn from wells in the ground, how there was no sewerage, none of the things we take for granted today. They can also see how people cooled their homes — through wind towers, for example, and in houses like the Abdul Kareem House, where you can understand how early forms of air conditioning worked in the past. Traditional architecture, building materials — all of these things are there.

We are trying to connect people to the UAE’s past, but also to ask how we can build on that knowledge: what lessons can we learn from it for the future?

— Yes, because in general, a large part of contemporary art is still rooted in tradition, history, and narrative.

— Which is why this year’s theme is Civilisations!

— Let's talk about it.

— I think with everything that has been going on in the world over the past year, it felt especially important for us to celebrate diversity, civilisations, and to acknowledge the multitude of cultures and forms that exist.

For us, it was about saying that we are all human. And art is a binding force — an international language that connects us.

So Civilisations is really about bringing us together, about thinking of ourselves as a whole, the world as a whole.

— It is interesting that you have such a mix of Emiratis, Europeans, and people from across the Middle East. How does that dynamic work in practice?

— What we do is the Artists’ Day, where all the artists come together. And I think that has been one of the nicest things: they gather, they share, they present their work, and they talk through many different ideas.

It is very unifying. You have people from countries that officially don’t recognise each other, yet in that room, they all do. So, for me, art is a universe.

— With countries like Brazil and Peru participating, how do you think this influences the festival and its impact?

— It is very exciting, because we haven’t really had Latin America represented before. This year, there is much stronger involvement from the region — it feels vibrant. We are also doing food collaborations alongside it, with a Peruvian chef and a Brazilian chef, adding a culinary dimension that helps tie everything together.

— In terms of Ras Al Khaimah’s ambitions to become a centre for art and culture in the region, it is usually known first for its natural landscape rather than for art and culture. Is there a plan to change that perception and strengthen the emirate’s cultural presence?

— I think our focus on art has always been a bit different from other Emirates. We are an Emirate that is probably more focused on nature — beaches, hiking, mountains — all of that. That’s really our core identity.

But at the same time, what we want to do when we bring people to Ras Al Khaimah is to offer more than just that. For me, it is about expanding what is available. So you can say, for example, your partner loves hiking, but you like wandering through galleries — and here, you can do both.

We are also involved with the Ras Al Khaimah National Museum, and we are really trying to upgrade the exhibitions and the overall experience there. From our perspective, it is about history, culture, and art as additions to nature — so that Ras Al Khaimah really offers something for everyone.

That said, I would still say it is all very much in the spirit of RAK: more earthy, more organic — a bit more squishy, shall we say.

— You have been into art for 15 years. How has the perception of art, and the level of interest in it, changed over the years?

— Oh, dramatically. Before, we would run the festival, and hardly anyone would come — maybe 100 people. Last year, we had close to 40,000 visitors.

And now, when people talk about art, it is not in the same way. I realise that they are starting to see that art can be amazing, that it can be fun. That art can be part of religion.

I think it has really helped the Ras Al Khaimah community rethink its relationship with art. We also run a schools programme throughout the festival, with around 2,500 children coming to take part in workshops and activities on site, led by artists and artisans. Many of these children don’t often get the opportunity to go on school trips, for different reasons, so for them, this is their first real encounter with art.

I hope that for future generations, this will make a lasting difference — and I think we are already starting to see that change.

— You work a lot with international artists, but the Middle East still has work to do in terms of showcasing local art. It is a region that is often misrepresented globally, with many misconceptions surrounding it. How does Ras Al Khaimah help address this and support local artistic voices?

— One of the things we are hoping to do next year is focus more on the curatorial side by starting a curatorial programme for young Emirati curators. That is where we see a lot of potential for Emirati artists. We are always very open, but we don’t currently have a programme specifically dedicated to this, and we are actively thinking about it.

— Going back to the festival — it runs for quite a long time, almost a month. What is happening here throughout the festival period?

— What is not happening here? We have dining: three pop-up restaurants, culminating in a Michelin-starred one, Pine. We have live performances every Saturday night. On Fridays, we have outdoor film screenings. We have workshops, masterclasses, education programmes — and, of course, the art.

So it is active every day. The festival runs six days a week, from Tuesday to Sunday. I would say the main days are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

— And what happens in the village once the festival is over?

— Then we move into our regular programming — education programmes, heritage tours, and activities that are more low-key. This year, for example, we go straight into the Ramadan Festival. We will have Ramadan Nights here, where people can come, relax, hang out, have suhoor, and enjoy the evening. It is a lighter, more subdued programme, but it helps maintain the energy in a different way.

After that, we move into the summer period. Throughout the year, though, we continue with our education programmes and tours — focusing more on history. So the activity never really stops; it just shifts in pace.

— You also do a lot of work with younger generations through educational programmes — what do those programmes look like in practice?

— Yes. For me, it really starts in schools. My aim is to sow the seeds early — to introduce young children to art through our programmes, rather than focusing only on later stages. There are already other initiatives in the UAE, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, that support artists at more advanced stages. What we want to do is cultivate a love of art from the beginning — helping children realise that they can paint, draw, and that art is accessible to them.

We have two education programmes. The first one takes place during the festival, like this month, and it is run by different artists. They lead a range of hands-on activities — not formal projects, but things like painting, drawing, making objects — all sorts of creative processes.

The second is our regular education programme, which focuses on the history of Al Jazirah Al Hamra. We have a structured programme for different age groups, where participants learn about the history of the village: how people lived here, who they were, and aspects of daily life.

— And looking ahead, what are your plans for the village and the festival — any goals or long-term dreams?

— We really want to develop more infrastructure around the site. We are hoping to build an outdoor amphitheatre where we could host concerts and performances, as well as a larger visitor and education centre. That is part of our long-term plan for the village: to make it accessible year-round. Given the weather, as you know, we need indoor spaces to use the village during the summer.

As for the festival, we are always asking ourselves what is new. This year, we launched the Biennale, which will now take place every two years. For next year, we are still working on the concept — it is in development — but we will definitely continue with a strong focus on food. We are very interested in making culinary experiences a key part of the festival.

Beyond that, we are thinking about how we can do things differently. I have a few ideas — including some offshoot projects beyond the village itself, possibly in industrial areas — but those ideas aren’t fully formed yet.

My aim for next year is to focus more closely on the art itself and to think about how we can improve — what we can do better, what we can do more of, and where our niche really is.

— Have you ever thought about building your own collection?

We hadn’t, actually. But during this festival, we were very generously gifted several pieces by Marinko Sudac, an avant-garde art collector who has exhibited here every year. He is an amazing person from Croatia. He said, “You need to start having a collection.”

So now, I guess we are. It was incredibly generous, and now it is something I really have to think about. That is the next step.

— Last question — is this the first year the festival is pet-friendly?

— No, we have actually always been pet-friendly. Speaking as a dog owner and a dog lover, that was one of my first concerns, because in the UAE it is often quite difficult. People want to bring their pets with them, and they want to go out together.

So, we are very pet-friendly. We have water stations around the site and feeding stations for both cats and dogs. During the festival, we will even have dog treats on our pet-friendly weekend.