Art Dubai’s 20th edition, delayed by the Middle East war and scaled down, still drew 25,000 visitors and 55 galleries, proving culture does not wait for peace. Under Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s patronage, the fair highlighted regional resilience, community solidarity, and Dubai’s growing role as a cultural hub through collaborations with leading art foundations and institutions.
The 20th edition of Art Dubai, one of the most significant art fairs of the region, was postponed by a month this year due to the war in the Middle East. Held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and the present ruler of Dubai, the edition was held on May 15-17 instead of in the month of April when it's usually scheduled.
The scaled-down edition, however, was special, for it showed resilience, brought people together in troubled times and gave a boost to the art and culture of the region with a record 25,000 people visiting it over three days. About 55 galleries participated from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Lebanon, Iran, Spain, Palestine, and the Netherlands in exhibitions, performances, and screenings in collaboration with Barjeel Art Foundation, Dubai Collection, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Alserkal Arts Foundation, Art Jameel, and Sharjah Art Foundation.
“This Art Dubai has taken a monumental effort from so many people. We are grateful for the support of the artists, galleries, and partners who have been instrumental in making this edition so special”, said Benedetta Ghione, executive director, Art Dubai Group. “We have always been proud of our local roots, but this week has exceeded all expectations. The community came out in force in celebration of this city’s incredible diversity and creativity, demonstrating the role that culture can play in bringing people together.”
Even though all Indian art galleries withdrew their participation amid tensions in the region, the fair had two major projects by Mumbai-based artists Shilpa Gupta and Sudarshan Shetty.
Gupta presented a light-based text installation titled Still A Sky We Hold, which has been showing in Dubai for a month. Commissioned by the Alserkal Arts Foundation, the new work was displayed at Alserkal Avenue, Dubai’s industrial-turned-arts district.
As viewers walk around the installation, they read the text that emphasises the word ‘Still’. An Instagram post by Alserkal Avenue reads, “Still A Sky We Hold evokes the infinite emotional space within us, and our collective capacity to respond. In times that feel unstable or fractured, the text reminds us that we are held under a sky that, despite everything, remains. The work carries forward the word ‘Still’… a quiet insistence on the shared condition of waiting, holding and staying.”
At the fair venue in Madinat Jumeirah was Mumbai-based artist Sudarshan Shetty’s A Song A Story (2016). A monumental, hand-carved, domed wooden structure with a small water body and steps leading to it was accompanied by a video. While the former became a favourite selfie spot at the fair, the accompanying video showed scenes of the construction of the structure in the midst of a stone quarry, somewhere on the outskirts of Mumbai. There were shots of the interiors of the home, its kitchen, and the residing couple.
“The work draws from a popular South Indian folk tale of a woman who has held onto a song and a story for far too long,” said Shetty. They then escape her silence and transform into a man’s umbrella and shoes outside her door. When her husband sees these, he becomes suspicious and leaves. But late at night, the dimming lights from his neighbours’ home tell him that the objects are really his wife’s story and song.
In Shetty’s video, the fictitious story is sung in Braj bhāshā (language from Mathura and adjoining region) by a vocalist accompanying a video that gives a sense of shifting times. A Song A Story interlaces a folk story, music, and architecture in a contemporary art project. Shetty is known for his layered works using different tools and media. It also questions societal boundaries of a marriage and its expectations, the one in which a woman doesn’t share her song and story.
Among the other highlights of the fair were Palestinian artist Amjad Ghannam’s paintings that reimagined Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces through a modern Palestinian lens. Then there were Iranian artist Parinaz Eleish Gharagozlou's beautiful, fantastical drawings in which she creates imagined worlds that she would like to live in during the disturbed times.
Digital artist Siddhartha Kunti had a fascinating project that gives visuals to scents. Kunti uses AI and pattern recognition to analyse molecular datasets of various aromas (such as fine whisky and traditional regional perfumes). He then transforms these complex aromatic compositions into visually stunning 3D digital visuals that represent what the nose experiences but the eye cannot see.
Spanish artist Solimán López presented a tiny portion of the cosmic metal iridium (found in space), which people could see with a magnifying glass, in his project centred on an actual asteroid 16 Psyche. It is a metal-rich asteroid that is said to be more valuable than the global economy combined. The project includes AI-generated imagery, radio transmissions, synthetic DNA storage, and conceptual ownership claims over the asteroid itself to draw attention to many countries’ attempts to claim these celestial bodies and their impact on Earth and humanity in general.
The fair closed with good sales as well, claims its closing press note. “Art Dubai for me this year was magic. We were thrilled to present a solo booth by Emirati artist Roudhah Al Marzouei, and we sold out our booth within the first couple of hours of the fair,” said Taymour Grahne, who opened his eponymous gallery in Dubai in 2025. “Sales surpassed our expectations, but what struck us most was the depth of engagement, the attention with which our collectors, curators and visitors approached the work,” said Maliha Tabari, founder of Tabari Artspace, Dubai.