UAE's Autumn Art Scene Ignites: 15 Must-See Exhibitions from Indian Ocean History to Local Masters

Galleries and institutions across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah are buzzing with a vibrant program of exhibitions as the UAE's autumn art season reaches its peak. Among the current highlights are 'Provisional Sanctuaries' at Tashkeel, where Malaysian artist Shamin Sharum delves into the often-overlooked prayer spaces that provide a sense of belonging in the UAE. 'Bodies that Make, Bodies that Grieve' at NYU Abu Dhabi features eight women artists utilizing ceramics to explore profound emotions and lived experiences. Meanwhile, 'Spices and Wonders: Sailing the Indian Ocean' at Louvre Abu Dhabi offers a journey through 1,000 years of maritime trade and cultural exchange.

Further exhibitions delve into themes of memory, migration, identity, and environmental change, showcasing a diverse range of artistic mediums including painting, photography, sculpture, textiles, and moving image. Louvre Abu Dhabi also presents a new exhibition exploring 5,000 years of board games.

Here are 15 exhibitions to experience across the UAE:

1. Unseen Script at Rizq Art Initiative: Curated by Meena Vari, this exhibition features works by 10 artists, including Nujoom Alghanem, exploring the patterns formed by repetition in human actions, from daily routines to ingrained gestures. The artists, including Najat Makki, Nasir Nasrallah, Abdulla PA, Ana Escobar Saavedra, Fadi Balhawan, Ismail Al Rifai, Joanna Barakat, Neveen Abu Samra, and Simrin Mehra Agarwal, utilize painting, sculpture, assemblage, and mixed media to reveal how personal habits and perspectives create a visual script. Several pieces connect people with their surroundings, with Abdulla reflecting on abandoned spaces reclaimed by nature and Saavedra transforming seashells into intricate assemblages. Nasrallah draws inspiration from his grandfather's antique shop, Makki extends her abstract style to steel, and Alghanem captures the cityscape as a contemporary horizon. While acknowledging technology's role in identifying patterns, the exhibition prioritizes subjective experience, questioning what memory, consciousness, and observation can reveal beyond data. Runs until October 28 in Abu Dhabi.
2. Taking Form at The Third Line: Rana Begum's fifth solo exhibition at The Third Line showcases new works in textile, linen, wood, and paper, continuing her exploration of light, color, geometry, and material. Large wool tapestries with shifting geometric patterns hang centrally, while diluted acrylic on linen and smaller works on paper and wood explore surface and color interactions. The exhibition introduces a softer aesthetic to Begum's practice while maintaining her signature abstraction and geometric structures. Runs until November 10 in Dubai.
3. Between Land and Sea, and Between a Fold and a Memory at Leila Heller Gallery: Two exhibitions at Leila Heller Gallery examine Emirati identity and heritage through the works of Azza Al Qubaisi and Karima Al Shomely. Al Qubaisi's 'Between Land and Sea,' curated by Aysha Al Hemeiri, spans jewelry to large-scale public works, using natural materials to connect the UAE's landscapes with memory and identity. Al Shomely's 'Between a Fold and a Memory' focuses on the clothing, textiles, and objects associated with Emirati women, using photography, sculpture, textile, and video to explore how items like the burqa carry generational memories of labor, social change, and cultural knowledge. Runs until November 10 in Dubai.
4. Sojourner: The Difference is the Same at Efie Gallery: Kenyan artist Maggie Otieno's first solo exhibition with Efie Gallery transforms reclaimed materials into vessels of memory. Otieno has worked with distressed and discarded materials for nearly three decades, with works in this exhibition incorporating 150-year-old railway sleepers and fragments of wooden canoes. By reconfiguring these materials, Otieno shifts objects of infrastructure and movement into forms that evoke stillness, memory, and passage. Runs until November 13 in Dubai.
5. The Horizon We Inherit at Iris Projects: Emirati artist Eman Al Hashemi's first solo exhibition with Iris Projects explores the changing rhythms of urban life in the UAE. Through ceramics, printmaking, and mixed media, she examines how cities shape attention, memory, and routines, with recurring motifs of the sun, streetlights, buildings, and roundabouts appearing both familiar and strange. Al Hashemi investigates the routes people travel and the traces left by urban development, considering the built environment as an active force in daily life. Runs from September 26 to November 26 in Abu Dhabi.
6. Provisional Sanctuaries at Tashkeel: Dubai-based Malaysian artist Shamin Sharum's solo exhibition at Tashkeel explores the overlooked prayer spaces found across the UAE. Focusing on temporary musollas in warehouses and industrial areas, the exhibition examines how modest architecture can foster familiarity and belonging, particularly for migrant communities. Sharum reconstructs these spaces through memory using painting, drawing, architectural models, and axonometric studies, highlighting improvised minarets, hand-painted signs, and prayer mats. Trained as an architect, he considers how temporary structures gain emotional significance through shared rituals. Developed through Tashkeel's Critical Practice Programme, the exhibition connects the impermanence of these spaces with experiences of displacement, identity, and belonging. Runs until November 27 in Dubai.
7. Vantage Point 13 at Sharjah Art Foundation: This edition marks a new chapter for Sharjah Art Foundation's photography platform, now housed in its dedicated gallery. Six international artists—Adam Rouhana, Guanyu Xu, Latifa AlBokhari, Luisa Dorr, Maheder Haileselassie, and Sathish Kumar—present commissioned photographic series developed with the foundation's support. The exhibition showcases the breadth of contemporary photography and the program's evolution into an international showcase. Vantage Point, established in 2013, is a key UAE photography initiative, with this edition featuring production funding for new work. Runs until November 29 in Sharjah.
8. Fellow Travellers at Tabari: Curated by Professor Omar Kholeif, this exhibition brings together six artists from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas to explore themes of movement, memory, kinship, and cultural exchange. Featuring landmark and rarely seen works by Sonia Balassanian, Jai Chuhan, Luísa Correia Pereira, Lalitha Lajmi, Irene Scheinmann, and Kholeif himself, the exhibition traces artistic journeys across geographies, examining how migration, cultural encounters, and personal histories shape creative expression. It is accompanied by a limited-edition publication. Runs until November 30 in Dubai.
9. Bodies that Make, Bodies that Grieve at NYU Abu Dhabi Project Space: This exhibition features eight UAE-based women artists from the Global South, exploring how ceramics can express difficult emotions and experiences. Curated by Shafeena Yusuff Ali, the exhibition examines the connection between the body, clay, and emotional expression, with sculptures by Nujoom Alghanem, Mirna Bamieh, Moza Al Falasi, Malavika, Parneet Pahwa, Zahra Shafie, Laiba Sherin, and Haseena Suresh. The artists use processes of pressing, building, breaking, and firing clay to explore memory, grief, and lived experience, considering ceramics' historical link to women's labor and care practices. Runs from October 22 to December 13 in Abu Dhabi.
10. The Sky Held It, The Earth Remembered at Ishara Art Foundation: This exhibition features works by Shahana Rajani, Rohini Devasher, and Sarker Protick, exploring how land, water, and the cosmos serve as archives of memory and history. Through photography, moving image, and installation, the artists consider how ecological change and human intervention leave lasting traces on the environment. Rajani's film focuses on communities displaced from the Indus Delta, Devasher's work is inspired by solar phenomena, and Protick's project documents transformations in Dhaka. The exhibition draws together perspectives from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh to examine ecological decline and landscapes as preservers of history. Runs until December 15 in Dubai.
11. Revelation at 421 Arts Campus: Emirati artist Juma Al Haj explores seclusion, reflection, and personal transformation in his first institutional solo exhibition, developed through 421 Arts Campus's Artistic Development Programme. The exhibition combines painting, engraved glass, text, light, shadow, and installation to explore how uncertainty can lead to self-understanding. It unfolds as a physical journey, culminating in a darkened, carpeted space with a water feature designed for contemplation. Al Haj's approach draws on journaling, philosophy, and spiritual texts. Runs until January 10, 2027, in Abu Dhabi.
12. Paul Guiragossian: 100 Years of Art at Bassam Freiha Art Foundation: This exhibition celebrates the centenary of Lebanese artist Paul Guiragossian (1926–1993), showcasing significant works from his estate. Developed with the Paul Guiragossian Foundation, it provides an overview of the life and legacy of a key figure in modern Lebanese and Middle Eastern art, known for his expressive use of color and depictions of the human figure, exploring themes of family, identity, displacement, and everyday life. Runs from October 17 to January 17, 2027, in Abu Dhabi.
13. Spices and Wonders: Sailing the Indian Ocean at Louvre Abu Dhabi: This exhibition explores 1,000 years of maritime trade and cultural exchange across East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India, China, and Southeast Asia. Organized with the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts, it features around 240 artworks and historical objects, placing the Arabian Gulf at the center of its narrative, examining its pearl trade and the movement of spices and textiles. Highlights include ship models, shipwreck artifacts, navigational instruments, and a third-century Buddha sculpture. The exhibition concludes its historical narrative in the 17th century, predating European dominance in Indian Ocean commerce. Runs until February 14, 2027, in Abu Dhabi.
14. A Board Game Adventure at Louvre Abu Dhabi: This exhibition transforms Louvre Abu Dhabi into a playground, using ancient games like chess, Mancala, and Ludo to explore cross-cultural connections. Designed for all ages, it traces the journey of games across civilizations, featuring immersive installations and rare artifacts from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, and India. Highlights include ancient chess pieces, engraved backgammon pieces, and early dice. Interactive displays allow visitors to solve puzzles and play games, revealing how strategy, chance, and storytelling have always been integral to human play. Runs until April 25, 2027, in Abu Dhabi.