Editor’s Notice: This story is a part of Newsmakers, a brand new ARTnews sequence the place we interview the movers and shakers who’re making change within the artwork world.
Abu Dhabi Artwork Honest returns to the capital metropolis of the United Arab Emirates subsequent month for its seventeenth version, extra cosmopolitan than ever, but constant in character.
From November 19–23, some 140 galleries from 37 nations will descend on Saadiyat Island, up from final yr’s 104 galleries and nicely past the 40 some exhibitors that gathered collectively in 2009 for its first version. Below the management of Dyala Nusseibeh, the truthful has launched a spread of thematic sectors, together with “The Collectors Salon,” for artifacts, historic objects, and the like; the newly expanded “Emerge,” devoted to galleries that promote works priced underneath $3,000; and the International Focus, which this yr will showcase trendy masters from Nigeria and Türkiye, which can assist illuminate the under-studied historic ties between Arab artists and the broader world.
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It’s an apt encapsulation of the cultural technique deployed to seismic impact by Abu Dhabi’s management over the previous 20 years: construct ambitiously and well, and the world will take discover—then form the narrative that follows. Change is fixed within the United Arab Emirates, and its closest cultural and industrial friends, Doha and Riyadh. Their shared artwork ecosystem, nonetheless, is poised for its best evolution but: In 2026, Frieze will formally take over Abu Dhabi Artwork, rebranding as Frieze Abu Dhabi—simply as Qatar welcomes Artwork Basel, marking the primary branches of each multinational entities within the Gulf Cooperation Council.
ARTnews spoke with Nusseibeh concerning the area’s imminent artwork market shakeup, and for additional particulars on the upcoming Abu Dhabi Artwork.
This interview has been edited and condensed for readability and concision.
ARTnews: Abu Dhabi Artwork has grown significantly because it launched 2016, by way of exhibitors and satellite tv for pc occasions throughout the Emirate. What elements do you attribute to this development?
Dyala Nusseibeh: This constellation of museums are lastly coming to fruition on Saayidat, lots of which have been within the works for practically 20 years. There’s been loads of work on curatorial technique, acquisitions, information manufacturing—all of that has fed into the burgeoning artwork market within the area in vital methods.
I’d say we’re kind of driving a bit little bit of a wave by way of world geopolitics, economics, all of that. The Gulf is definitely a really secure place, by way of its economic system. There’s loads of funding occurring in tradition at a time the place elsewhere it’s slowing down. Lots of galleries are searching for new markets and seeing the Gulf as this thrilling kind of panorama to be a part of. And so [at the fair] we’re seeing each the return of a few of these early exhibitors that got here out within the first editions of the truthful, galleries resembling Tempo Gallery, Mennour, and naturally, Galleria Continua. However we even have newcomers like Richard Saltoun.
How has the truthful responded to this variation?
Initially the truthful [featured] extra blue-chip galleries collectively, with a number of the giant regional galleries. In recent times, there’s been a really rigorously built-up area for rising and mid-career galleries to play a central half, to be stakeholders within the truthful. That’s each on the bottom, regionally and regionally, but in addition globally. We’ve opened up the area for galleries which might be increase their markets to see the UAE as a spot the place they will do this, and in Abu Dhabi particularly. One, by means of actively encouraging galleries to convey lower cost level works for our rising collector base. We clearly have a core group of very critical, distinguished collectors with essential collections, however we even have this incredible mobility and development of youthful collectors which have disposable earnings; which might be starting to noticeably grow to be the long run collectors that galleries can flip to to assist construct their markets.
On the identical time, we’ve targeted on under-researched artwork histories, bringing [to the fair] artists that there’s much less recognized about, and so which might be subsequently maybe undervalued by way of their world friends. I’m considering, for instance, Egyptian surrealists like Inji Efflatoun. In case you had been attempting to get a European Surrealist of an identical standing, you’d pay a number of instances the quantity for a piece by them. There’s this chance for collectors to start out buying trendy artwork from the area or from the International South—or International Majority, if you’ll.
How does that technique tie into the truthful’s partnership with different nations, like Nigeria?
This yr, we’re actively working with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Artwork, Tradition, Tourism and Artistic Financial system to supply alternatives to totally different galleries in that specific Focus sector. They’re displaying seven galleries.
One gallery is displaying trendy works from the Osogbo College of Artwork and the opposite six are all mainly rising and smaller galleries. I believe Nigeria, like us, is considering the artistic economic system and the advantages of supporting that artistic sector’s development. We’re kind of pairing up and giving them the chance to allow that development within the UAE. In order that’s undoubtedly a part of the technique: increasing the variety of galleries and the entry factors for these galleries, so they’re accessible to a wider collector base. We’re very a lot trying on the museums for steering on works to convey [to the fair].
For instance, a few years in the past, we launched the Collector Salon, the place we showcase works that you will discover in dialog with works on the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Final yr, Peter Harrington introduced the unique manuscript of Le Petit Prince, with annotations by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. So we’ve began to usher in all types of collectibles, antiquities, artifacts, objects, manuscripts. I believe that’s very, very a lot consistent with this viewers that’s grown up attending the Louvre Abu Dhabi now for seven, eight years. However equally with our give attention to the SWANA [South West Asia, North Africa] area that’s inclining to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s acknowledged curatorial technique and intention.
Samuel Nnorom, Displaying Internal Color, 2025.
Courtesy of The 1897 Gallery and the Artist
What kind of dialogues are being opened right here?
kó [a Lagos-based gallery] has been doing the truthful for a bit bit, and thru them we’ve obtained to know—or I’ve actually obtained to know—much more about Nigerian trendy artwork. One in all their artists, Nike Davies-Okundaye, we liked assembly final yr when she was proven on the sales space. She was a key a part of the Osogbo College of Artwork and he or she was married to [the artist] Twins Seven Seven who was actually extra well-known till lately. They had been a part of this group of artists, writers, intellectuals, poets, and theater-makers that will create these sorts of theater backdrops and do this type of touring theater.
It was very a lot a part of the post-colonial narratives popping out of Nigeria as they had been taking possession of their very own artwork histories and imagining their very own futures. I believe [Davies-Okundaye] was the primary feminine gallerist in Nigeria herself. She’s given job alternatives to 500 ladies in craft-making. She’s fairly an inspiring individual. That’s a long-winded manner of claiming, I believe kó opened the door for me in loads of methods to fascinated by the connections, or attainable hyperlinks, with Nigeria. I discussed earlier the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Artwork, Tradition, Tourism and Artistic Financial system; you possibly can see the priorities of the nation in that authorities title. This concept that investing within the artistic economic system is crucial for the long run prospects of Nigeria, that basically resonated as a result of we expect in the identical manner in Abu Dhabi.
All this effort to construct up the artwork ecosystem and the artwork economic system may be very a lot about that subsequent era having the likelihood to contribute to the additional development of the nation and to have the opportunity of constructing careers on this subject. We’re on comparable missions in that manner. And while you begin considering like that, it is smart that you simply don’t have to right away go for the sort of typical artwork facilities globally—once more, fascinated by Europe and America—the place the markets are deepest. I believe every part’s a bit bit extra decentralized now.
How does Türkiye determine into that narrative?
One of many galleries that’s taking part is displaying Fahrelnissa Zeid. She’s such an apparent sort of connector, if you’ll, between our elements of the world. She was born throughout the Ottoman Empire, married and moved to Iraq. After being a part of the D Grubu [artist collective] in Türkiye, she ended her years in Jordan, the place she mentored a gaggle of feminine artists. So she is that this Turkish trendy artist that can be very a lot part of our world as nicely. We’re going to be displaying some fairly particular works by her from non-public collections that haven’t been seen in public.
What are the day-to-day logistics of staging a good of this measurement? To say, what’s a traditional work day for you?
I imply, it’s every part from the manufacturing timelines to schedules, and fascinated by the layouts of galleries. My favourite factor is speaking with artists and curators about what they’re displaying. You study concerning the artist, assist them with their shows, and take into consideration the collector outreach. I’ll plan and go to occasions in Abu Dhabi to welcome folks, loads of them coming for the primary time. I need to make it possible for they’ve a wider sense of the Emirates and of the cultural panorama there.
Final week HSBC, our lead sponsor, confirmed our fantastic program Past Rising Artists, the place we fee three artists yearly to create new work, which we present on the truthful after which take internationally. Traditionally, we’ve proven it in Kochi and in Hong Kong. And final week, HSBC kindly supported our exhibition of the works on the Saatchi Gallery in London.
There’s additionally fascinated by, say, the place we are able to have sales space partitions and easy methods to squeeze galleries in, as a result of we’d wish to [include] greater than we are able to. I imply, I’ve actually obtained a few of our youngest galleries taking place a hall, however that makes it fairly thrilling and buzzy. The galleries in that part final yr truly offered very well. The enjoyable half for me all the time is attempting to know a number of the work the curators are doing across the exhibitions they’re presenting—the crucial analysis that comes out of that. Particularly this yr, I’m typically in dialog with galleries about having to possibly change a sales space, or they need to current one thing new. We actually listen as a good to what galleries present, and attempt to make it really feel as very like an exhibition as attainable, and never too chaotic or blended of a hold.
So no two days are alike for you.
No, I don’t assume so. I believe there’s an occupational hazard particularly with the lower cost factors, of all the time wanting to purchase issues.
In what methods have you ever seen your position—or your perspective in your position—change because you took the helm in 2016?
I knew from day one which the truthful is as a lot a group as it’s a platform; you typically hear festivals described as platforms. So from the get-go, I used to be attempting to know the position the truthful may have for the group, what it had executed traditionally, and the place it may go. A number of the modifications strategically I needed to implement had been issues like having a year-round presence, somewhat than simply being a five-day occasion.
For instance, doing exhibitions yr spherical, doing talks in universities, having issues just like the Scholar Pavilion Prize and Past Rising Artists, which provides younger artists a chance to make use of the truthful as a car for his or her improvement. I believe 10,000 college students in complete come to the truthful, which is de facto essential to me. There have been numerous issues I felt the truthful may do past the kind of nuts and bolts of being a industrial artwork area, [for] information manufacturing. Like, may we be someplace the place you probably did analysis about artists, or helped produce publications—and positively we’ve executed a little bit of that with our gateway exhibitions on the truthful. Warehouse421 turned an essential area to do a gallery week, mid-year, the place we had galleries coming with works lower than $3,000—as a option to construct up a base for youthful collectors. All of that for me was an enormous studying curve, simply fascinated by what folks needed, what they responded to, what they had been drawn to. There are such a lot of folks in Abu Dhabi—and this I believe is a bit bit uncommon and distinctive—that take an actual pleasure in supporting the event of their nation’s artistic economic system.
What was it like staging the truthful throughout the pandemic?
There was one yr [around the pandemic] after we had been online-only. We created a good, freed from cost for galleries to be on-line as our stakeholders. And there have been loads of collectors that hadn’t actually gone on-line earlier than—it was kind of new to them—however had been so blissful to have the VIP staff go to folks’s houses, open up laptops, present them easy methods to enter these viewing rooms. There was an actual sense of group spirit and need to really feel someway contributing to the UAE’s alternatives and future prospects. I’d say that’s fairly distinctive.
The primary iterations of Frieze Abu Dhabi and Artwork Basel Qatar will launch in 2026. How do you assume these additions will have an effect on the artwork ecosystem of the Gulf?
I believe this can be a vastly essential chapter forward of us. You’ve seen how we’re rising and rising: We’ve gone from 40 or so galleries to 140. Saudi launched an artwork truthful within the spring which goes someplace. Qatar signaled a critical curiosity with the Artwork Basel collaboration. And what that’s telling you is that we’re coming into a brand new development interval which goes to be good for everybody: the artists, the galleries, all the humanities professionals. Progress throughout the area means an artist could have alternatives to exhibit throughout these nations. Curators will uncover works by means of many occasions. Researchers will be capable to entry and take into consideration data.
This a second the place the area is speaking about itself in world artwork narratives and placing that data ahead. And as a lot as issues are coming to the Gulf, the Gulf can be going outward. For instance, with Frieze Abu Dhabi, I believe an essential change is to date, we’ve been very a lot a regionally and regionally grounded truthful that’s attracted worldwide contributors. I believe that’s going to alter in a significant manner as we transfer [toward] Frieze Abu Dhabi 2026, the place we’re coming into extra world conversations and bringing our personal voices into these conversations, by means of the networks and experience of Frieze. I’ve had the pleasure of working a bit bit with them now. We simply did a lounge at Frieze London [earlier this month], the place we had been internet hosting folks and welcoming folks. It’s been an absolute delight. They’re all sensible, beautiful, incredible to work with.
London has been this type of world heart for change and commerce, and folks from all around the world have made it their residence. You’ve seen this type of acceleration of the artwork market and acceleration of the ecosystem over time since [Frieze London] launched. And I believe in some methods, Abu Dhabi goes by means of the identical acceleration. It’s additionally a world hub, a monetary heart, a spot the place you’re seeing folks from all around the world come and make it their residence. It’s about to endure, I believe, fairly an acceleration going ahead, and the truthful could have an integral half to play in that.
Anything you’d like to spotlight, as you put together for the truthful’s opening subsequent month?
Abu Dhabi Artwork is an area for the artwork market, nevertheless it’s additionally an area for reflection and analysis on wider matters, and a sort of coming collectively of a a lot wider group as nicely. That’s the place festivals can proceed to have relevance. Once they construct up the artwork market, they’re additionally increase that information round totally different artwork histories, and, you realize, crucial views on a number of the points which might be particularly related in the present day, or that we’re fascinated by critically in the present day, and we all the time attempt to be a good that gives that potential.
