Louvre Abu Dhabi Reveals Six Finalists Competing for the 2026 Richard Mille Art Prize

Six artists have officially been shortlisted for the 2026 Richard Mille Art Prize, and their new works are scheduled to be exhibited at Louvre Abu Dhabi starting in November.

Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi, Emirati painter Almaha Jaralla, and Dubai-based Malaysian artist and designer Muhammad Shamin Sahrum were selected alongside Indian artists Ravikumar Kashi, Reena Kallat, and Vivek Vilasini. More than 300 proposals were submitted for the sixth edition of Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here and the Richard Mille Art Prize. This year, the competition was open to GCC nationals and residents, as well as Indian nationals, who were included for the first time.

The six finalists will now develop their proposals into physical works to be presented beneath the museum’s dome at Art Here 2026, which runs from November 11 to February 28, 2027.

Curated by Kamini Sawhney, former founding director of the Museum of Art and Photography in Bengaluru, the upcoming exhibition centers on the theme of Confluences. The showcase explores deep connections between India and the Gulf, shaped by centuries of trade, migration, and cultural exchange across the Indian Ocean.

Ahaad Alamoudi’s practice explores history, representation, and changing ideas of cultural identity in Saudi Arabia. Almaha Jaralla works primarily with textiles and pigment, examining memory, movement, and inherited histories across the Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean. Muhammad Shamin Sahrum focuses on the visual language of everyday urban life and shared experiences emerging through movement, migration, and community.

Meanwhile, Ravikumar Kashi works across a range of media in an interdisciplinary practice. Reena Kallat examines political and social borders along with their effects on land, people, and nature. Vivek Vilasini works across digital and sculptural media to explore politics, identity, and systems of knowledge.

Curator Kamini Sawhney also serves on the jury alongside Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa, an art collector and patron; Guilhem Andre, director of scientific, curatorial, and collections management at Louvre Abu Dhabi; and Maya Allison, founding executive director of the art galleries and chief curator at New York University Abu Dhabi.

“Arriving at a final selection was a challenge but equally a privilege,” Kamini Sawhney stated. “The six artists impressed the jury with their willingness to innovate – from fragile assemblage to immersive installation.”

Launched in 2021, Art Here and the Richard Mille Art Prize initially focused on UAE-based artists before expanding their geographical scope in later editions. North African artists became eligible in 2024, followed by Japan last year.

The six shortlisted artists will finalize their works ahead of the exhibition opening, and the ultimate winner of the Richard Mille Art Prize will be awarded $60,000 later in the season.