This year, Art Dubai celebrates its 20th anniversary, and instead of looking back in a purely retrospective way, the fair has chosen to frame the moment through "Future, Past, Present". The idea runs through the entire edition — from the way modern and contemporary works are shown together to the introduction of new sections that revisit overlooked histories and open space for more experimental, large-scale practices. It feels like a way of asking where the fair, and the wider art ecosystem around it, is heading next.

With that in mind, we felt it was the right moment to sit down with Dunja Gottweis, Director of Art Dubai, to talk through what this year’s edition is really about. In our conversation, we discuss how she defines the DNA of Art Dubai today, why this particular framework feels necessary now, and how the fair is evolving as it enters its third decade. We also talk about the thinking behind new and reimagined platforms such as Zamaniyyat, Bawwaba Extended and Art Dubai Digital, the growing emphasis on spatial and experiential work, and the role Art Dubai continues to play in supporting artists, galleries and cultural dialogue well beyond the fair itself.

— Art Dubai is marking its 20th anniversary while also entering a new phase under your leadership. You are clearly preserving the fair’s DNA while introducing changes that still feel true to it. How would you define the DNA of Art Dubai today?

— Art Dubai has always embodied the imagination and momentum of a place whose present is constantly anticipating the future. It is rooted in Dubai, deeply connected across the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, and globally networked in how it thinks, collaborates and exchanges ideas.

As we mark 20 years and enter a new phase, the fair’s DNA feels very clear to me. Art Dubai is a pioneer in the region, now moving into its third decade as the pre-eminent art fair for the Middle East, and that sense of cultural leadership is something we hold carefully. At the same time, it remains a fair of discovery, but discovery in its deepest sense. It is about the unexpected encounter that shifts how people think, see, or relate to the world. You might come for one thing, and leave with a whole set of other things you didn’t know you were looking for.

At its core, Art Dubai continues to bring together artists, galleries and thinkers from across global communities, creating a space where ideas are exchanged and new futures are imagined. What feels especially important today is that these conversations do not stop at the fair. Through year-round programmes and initiatives that have grown out of Art Dubai, those ideas continue to travel outward, influencing cultural dialogue well beyond the event itself.

— Each year, Art Dubai is framed around a different theme; this year, it is Future, Past, Present. Why did this particular framework feel necessary now?

— Because this year is a moment of recognition and a moment of direction. As Art Dubai marks its 20th anniversary, it was essential to acknowledge what has been built over two decades, while also being very intentional about how the fair moves forward. The framework is not retrospective in spirit; it is deliberately framed as a launch forward, setting the tone for the next chapter.

Introducing a clearer line of thinking allows us to hold those two ideas together. This creates space to honour the region’s rich and complex art histories while responding to Dubai’s future-facing cultural landscape. It reflects the maturity of the ecosystem around the fair, where artists, galleries, collectors, institutions and the city itself have grown together over time, rather than in parallel or isolation.

It also acknowledges the role Art Dubai has played in developing generations of artists, curators, writers and collectors through long-term programmes such as the Global Art Forum and Campus Art Dubai, which have acted as formative spaces for cultural practitioners based in the UAE, supporting professional development, mentorship and sustained engagement. Emirati artist Shaikha Al Mazrou is a strong example of how that pipeline matures, moving from early involvement with Campus Art Dubai to major international platforms and significant institutional commissions.

Structurally, the theme mirrors how the fair already operates. The past is addressed through the re-examination of modern art histories beyond Western canons, most clearly through the new Zamaniyyat section, which looks at 20th-century modernisms as parallel, uneven and globally connected histories. The present is reflected in contemporary practices that explore migration, technology and global interdependence. The future opens onto digital, immersive and speculative practices that are redefining how art is made, experienced and valued.

This framework is designed to open questions. It asks how histories are written, how value is formed, and how futures are imagined. It is an approach to the fair grounded in the way Art Dubai has always worked — looking to the future through the lens of the past.

— I remember that Art Dubai used to have two separate sections: Art Dubai Modern and Art Dubai Contemporary. This year, they are brought together under a single section, Art Dubai Galleries. Why was it important to merge these two formats?

— We wanted to allow historical and contemporary works to sit alongside one another in a way that reflects how artists, galleries and collectors already engage, through dialogue and shared concerns. Integrating modern and contemporary practices also makes space for Zamaniyyat to function as a more tightly focused, research-led section dedicated to 20th-century modernisms.

Art Dubai Galleries highlights exhibitors whose programmes consistently demonstrate strong curatorial thinking and cultural depth. That comes through clearly in presentations such as Madrid-based Maisterra gallery, which is presenting a duo exhibition pairing a young contemporary painter, Miguel Marina, with the late Argentine artist Sarah Grilo. Though separated by generation, both share a material and conceptual approach to painting, creating a layered dialogue around the medium itself.

In Vigo gallery’s presentation, figures such as Sudanese painter Ibrahim El-Salahi sit next to contemporary artists including Johnny Abrahams and British sculptor Kate MccGwire. It is interesting to see different generations and materials sit in active conversation. Strong artistic practices gain depth when viewed in relation to one another, and Art Dubai Galleries creates a more layered experience that encourages discovery through connection.

— What can visitors expect to see in Art Dubai Galleries this year? Maybe you can already give us a few examples of artists and their artworks.

— Visitors will encounter a high calibre of modern and contemporary practices presented in ways that invite slower looking and meaningful dialogue across generations and geographies. Efie Gallery is presenting work by Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons, following the launch of a major installation at Desert X AlUla 2026 and her presentation at the São Paulo Biennale in 2025.

Galerie Peter Kilchmann presents works by Leiko Ikemura, whose international career spans decades and multiple media, alongside Iranian-born Shirana Shahbazi, known for her large prints of conceptual photography. Exploring art’s capacity to describe, disrupt and at times challenge dominant narratives of contemporary life, Saleh Barakat Gallery brings a curated selection of recent works from its roster of artists, including Nabil Nahas, recognised for his vivid, textured paintings. Meanwhile, Sfeir-Semler Gallery presents Yto Barrada, who will represent France at the Venice Biennale in 2026. Her multidisciplinary practice spans textiles, sculpture, film, photography, and drawing.

— One of the major new sections this year is Zamaniyyat. Why did you feel it was important to introduce this section now, and what conversations does it aim to open?

— Zamaniyyat focuses on modern practices that developed outside Europe and North America, contributing to a more expansive and accurate understanding of the last century. Curated by Sarah Rifky, the section brings a research-led approach to the fair, grounded in long-term work on modern art histories in West Asia and North Africa. It looks at how different modernities developed in parallel across regions defined by distinct political, social and cultural conditions, and it challenges linear or Eurocentric narratives that have traditionally dominated accounts of modern art.

The section brings together 11 galleries and over 40 artists, many of whom are rarely seen together in an international fair context. What emerges is a reading of modernism as something uneven, interconnected and deeply contextual. Presentations such as Zamalek Art Gallery’s (Cairo) solo exhibition, tracing five decades of rarely seen oeuvre in Egypt, offer a powerful view of artistic practice responding to shifting political and social realities. Richard Saltoun Gallery (London/Rome/NYC) approaches modernism through the lens of displacement and movement, bringing together artists whose practices developed across places such as Algeria, Palestine and Egypt.

We want Zamaniyyat to be an active space for inquiry that opens conversations around how art histories are written, how modernism travelled and transformed, and how these works continue to resonate within contemporary cultural discourse.

— How was the curator for Zamaniyyat selected, and what was central to that curatorial vision?

— Dr Sarah A. Rifky’s practice brings the depth, rigour and historical sensitivity that Zamaniyyat requires. She is a curator, writer and art historian whose work has consistently examined the legacies of modernism, the role of cultural infrastructure, and the politics of how art histories are written across what is often referred to as the global majority.

What was central to her curatorial vision was the idea of modernism as something that travelled. Rooted in Dubai’s position as a logistical and exhibitionary crossroads, Zamaniyyat traces how artistic methods moved with students, teachers and artworks as they circulated between cities and, at times, into exile. The selection is anchored by shared formal and conceptual concerns rather than geography or chronology alone. Abstraction, attention to material, and recurring image systems such as the grid, weave, imprint, stencil and offset recur across painting, works on paper, textiles, reliefs and sculpture. These common threads allow very different practices to sit in conversation, revealing how ideas developed in parallel and through exchange.

Under Sarah Rifky’s direction, Zamaniyyat offers a focused, research-led reading of modernism that feels grounded and attentive to context, opening space for a more complex understanding of how artistic languages evolved and took root across regions.

— Zamaniyyat focuses specifically on the period from the 1950s to the 1990s. Why was this timeframe particularly significant for you?

— It is a significant time period, which is unfortunately often understood through a very narrow frame. Zamaniyyat looks at this stretch of the second half of the 20th century to examine how artistic practices actually took form, through art schools and academies, studios and workshops, journals and presses, museums, galleries and biennials. Approaching the period through these conditions of making and circulation allows the section to move away from fixed national narratives and toward a more connected reading of artistic development. It considers how ideas, techniques and visual languages travelled, often in complex and uneven ways, and how those movements unfolded against the backdrop of empire, decolonisation and nation-building.

— Bawwaba and the newly introduced Bawwaba Extended are clearly related, but distinct. What is the difference between the two, and why has this platform become such an important focus for Art Dubai this year?

— Bawwaba, curated by Amal Khalaf, remains focused on tightly defined solo presentations by emerging to mid-career artists, with an emphasis on research-driven practice, long-term relationships and new work produced specifically for the fair. In contrast, Bawwaba Extended builds on this artist-led approach, expanding beyond a focus on emerging artists to prioritise large-scale, experiential works that are encountered across the site. Curated by Amal Khalaf and Alexie Glass-Kantor, it creates space for installations, digital media, moving image, sound, performance and public interventions that do not sit comfortably within a booth-based structure. The focus is on ambitious, large-scale projects that engage directly with the site and with audiences moving through it. Bawwaba Extended invites proposals from galleries worldwide, including those not participating in the main fair, allowing a broader range of voices and practices to be present. It reinforces Art Dubai’s commitment to contemporary production that is experimental, expansive and grounded in research.

Alongside this, the introduction of the Bawwaba Gallery Support Programme is a practical response to current market conditions. By sharing risk and reducing upfront costs, the programme enables greater participation of emerging galleries. This benefits artists, supports galleries, and offers collectors a context for discovery that prioritises depth, experimentation and new ideas over repetition.

— The press release mentions that Bawwaba Extended will bring forward ideas that might not fit within a conventional format. Could you give some examples of the kinds of ideas or practices you mean? Are there any specific works you can already point to?

— As the name suggests, we are talking about works that quite literally “extend” beyond a booth. These are projects that move across the fair environment and use the site itself as part of the work, turning it into a more dynamic space for encounter, experimentation and discovery.

The section welcomes expanded and interdisciplinary practices, from large-scale installations and moving image to sound, performance and site-responsive works. These are pieces that unfold over time, respond to architecture, or ask audiences to move through them, which calls for a different kind of curatorial structure.

It also gives artists the freedom to work at a scale and intensity that isn’t always possible within a traditional fair setting. Specific works and names will be announced soon, but the intention is to support ambitious ideas that invite people to experience contemporary art in a more open and immersive way.

— Bawwaba Extended is inspired by the concept of thresholds. Could you expand on what this idea means in the context of the fair?

— It speaks to moments of transition, crossing and encounter - physical and conceptual. At Art Dubai, it reflects the experience of moving between spaces, disciplines and ways of seeing, something that already sits at the heart of how the fair is experienced. Bawwaba Extended uses this idea to position large-scale public artworks across the Madinat Jumeirah campus, transforming it into a site where visitors are constantly moving between inside and outside, exhibition and public space, art and everyday life. These works sit at points of passage, places you move through rather than arrive at, encouraging pause, reflection or a shift in perspective.

Thinking about thresholds also allows the section to explore how contemporary art operates between formats and categories. The works often exist between installation, performance, sound or moving image, and between fixed object and lived experience. That sense of in-between feels especially relevant within a fair context, where encounters are brief and often unexpected.

— The press release mentions that Bawwaba Extended will bring forward ideas that might not fit within a conventional format. Could you give some examples of the kinds of ideas or practices you mean? Are there any specific works you can already point to?

— As the name suggests, we are talking about works that quite literally “extend” beyond a booth. These are projects that move across the fair environment and use the site itself as part of the work, turning it into a more dynamic space for encounter, experimentation and discovery.

The section welcomes expanded and interdisciplinary practices, from large-scale installations and moving image to sound, performance and site-responsive works. These are pieces that unfold over time, respond to architecture, or ask audiences to move through them, which calls for a different kind of curatorial structure.

It also gives artists the freedom to work at a scale and intensity that isn’t always possible within a traditional fair setting. Specific works and names will be announced soon, but the intention is to support ambitious ideas that invite people to experience contemporary art in a more open and immersive way.

— Bawwaba Extended is inspired by the concept of thresholds. Could you expand on what this idea means in the context of the fair?

— It speaks to moments of transition, crossing and encounter — physical and conceptual. At Art Dubai, it reflects the experience of moving between spaces, disciplines and ways of seeing, something that already sits at the heart of how the fair is experienced. Bawwaba Extended uses this idea to position large-scale public artworks across the Madinat Jumeirah campus, transforming it into a site where visitors are constantly moving between inside and outside, exhibition and public space, art and everyday life. These works sit at points of passage, places you move through rather than arrive at, encouraging pause, reflection or a shift in perspective.

Thinking about thresholds also allows the section to explore how contemporary art operates between formats and categories. The works often exist between installation, performance, sound or moving image, and between fixed object and lived experience. That sense of in-between feels especially relevant within a fair context, where encounters are brief and often unexpected.

— Last year, I spoke with Pablo del Val about Art Dubai 2025, and he shared an observation that really stayed with me. He said: “There is something very exciting happening — mainly the influence of Instagram and digital platforms. Many artists today are deeply engaged with the digital space, creating work that is often first encountered online rather than in physical galleries. This has given rise to a distinct aesthetic — one that is highly geometric, dimensional, and designed to be consumed digitally.” Have you noticed this shift as well while working on this edition of Art Dubai?

— There is truth in that observation, and yet I have also felt a strong counter-movement while working on this edition. Perhaps because so much of our lives is now mediated through screens, there is a growing appetite for experiences that cannot be reduced to a flat image. It has never felt more important to encounter art you can spend time with, work that you register physically as much as visually.

You see this across the fair in how sections are conceived as complete environments. Even within Art Dubai Digital, with curator Ulrich Schrauth’s background in immersive art and scenography, the focus is very much on spatial experience, how a work is encountered, how a visitor moves through it, and what it does within the room.

A similar approach comes through strongly in Bawwaba, where the solo format allows galleries to go deep into an artist’s practice and think of the booth as a coherent experience. Hunna Art Gallery’s presentation of Wafa Al Falahi, with her background in interior and spatial design, is a good example of a practice that naturally operates through space and atmosphere. Likewise, SOLO Gallery’s presentation of Adrian Pepe takes textiles beyond the wall, creating an encounter that visitors move through and navigate.

— In that same conversation, he also spoke about themes that frequently emerge among artists working in or connected to the Middle East — particularly displacement, migration driven by climate change, as well as questions of identity and adaptation. Have you observed these themes in this year’s presentations? And were there any other recurring concerns that stood out to you?

— Yes, those themes are very present this year, especially among artists working in or connected to the region. We see this in Bawwaba’s curatorial framework, which foregrounds practices that sit between disciplines, identities and geographies, much like Dubai itself as a city defined by constant change. Many presentations engage directly with displacement and mobility, and with how personal and collective histories travel across territories.

An example is Arébénor Basséne, presented by Selebe Yoon, whose work moves through historical and speculative cartographies of the Sahel, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, connecting questions of migration, climate and planetary thinking. Another deeply resonant presentation comes from Mohammed Al Hawajri, shown by Iyad Qanazea Gallery. Recently displaced from Gaza, Al Hawajri and his family rescued more than 200 works on paper and nearly 100 canvases from their studios. Now based in Sharjah, his work is a powerful reminder of the role art plays in endurance and in resisting erasure.

In Art Dubai Digital, similar concerns surface through perception and sensory experience. Morehshin Allahyari, presented by Gazelli Art House, consistently engages with cultural erasure, threatened knowledge systems and the politics of preservation, using digital and immersive tools to question what is lost, archived or reimagined.

Beyond these themes, another recurring concern this year is how artists respond to instability more broadly, political, environmental and cultural. What connects these practices is a shared attention to adaptation and a willingness to hold complexity, without trying to simplify it.