Late November 2025 | Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

Late November 2025 | Abu Dhabi Art Fair, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

My time at Abu Dhabi Art Fair this November unfolded across three separate visits. Returning again and again felt necessary. The fair revealed itself in layers rather than in a single pass, and each visit sharpened my sense of where Abu Dhabi’s cultural energy is heading.

This was my second time attending the annual fair, held at Manarat Al Saadiyat having first visited in 2023. The fair felt more assured, more international and more confident in its role as a meeting point between continents. It was wonderful for me to especially connect with Galleries from Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai and across the Middle East.

Saadiyat Island continues to be an exceptional setting for this kind of exchange. Its proximity made the fair easy for me to return to, but more importantly, its wider context matters. With institutions such as Louvre Abu Dhabi already established and further museums including The Guggenheim on the horizon, Saadiyat is no longer emerging, it is consolidating its position as a cultural centre for the Gulf.

Across the halls, I was drawn to work that balanced ambition with restraint. Pieces that held attention quietly, without spectacle. Conversations with gallerists and artists echoed this same theme, a shared interest in longevity, clarity, and cultural relevance rather than short-term noise. The fair felt like a forum, one where relationships and ideas were being created and shared freely.

There was also a noticeable sense of transition in the air. With Abu Dhabi Art set to evolve into Frieze Abu Dhabi next year, the fair felt like a threshold moment. An end, but also a beginning.

Some of my highlights from this year's exhibition:

Why it matters to creatives and curators

What stayed with me most was the emphasis on dialogue. Between cultures, disciplines, generations. The strongest work did not compete for attention, it commanded space through confidence and intent. That principle resonates deeply with how I approach my own practice and the wider collective of artists I now represent.

The island already hosts work by artists from across the world and that spirit of international exchange is something I am actively building on through my collective - A growing group of global talent, exhibiting and working across Saadiyat and beyond, united not by geography but by a shared commitment to quality, depth and cultural sensitivity.

The Abu Dhabi Art Fair reinforced something I have felt for some time. This is a place where considered work can flourish, where global voices are welcomed and where the future of art in the region is being shaped with intention rather than haste. I am very much looking forward to what comes next!