New commissions and talks at Art Dubai draw on the contemporary condition

Since its inception in 2007, Art Dubai has grown into one of West Asia's largest cultural events and a leading international art fair. The fair continues to contribute to local and regional cultural scenes with each edition. Its 2025 iteration, set to unfold at Madinat Jumeirah from April 18 - 20, offers artists a global platform through presentations, innovative talks, conferences and development programmes. “For nearly two decades, Art Dubai has played two complementary roles, as the region’s leading commercial art platform and as a unique institution that is rooted in and significantly contributes to the local cultural ecosystem,” says Pablo del Val, Art Dubai’s artistic director, in an official statement. “This year’s programme continues this long-term approach, working in partnership with local institutions, business and government to create new opportunities for artists and enhancing Dubai’s reputation as a centre of innovation and thought leadership,” he adds.

Complementing Art Dubai’s comprehensive gallery programme with over 120 exhibitors and curated sections, the art event will host a series of performances, site-specific interventions, experiential commissions and installations. Talks and conferences at Art Dubai—including the Global Art Forum, Digital Summit, Collector Talks and Modern Talks— will dissect a range of topics from the new normal and the digital art landscape to individual passions and perspectives, offering a spectrum of live experiences. “It’s an exciting time in Dubai,” del Val noted in an interview for Art Dubai.

The Art Dubai Commissions programme for the 2025 edition features a diverse lineup of works exploring themes of transformation, human connection with materials and the influence of technology and the environment. Mexican artist Héctor Zamora, known for his site-specific interventions, will present performances and sculptural interventions responding to the site through clay vessels.

Italian artist Jacopo Di Cera’s Retreat is a climate-focused piece that captures the melting Brenva glacier via upcycled screens, emphasising the urgent need for environmental action. Deriving its title from the Arabic word for ‘electricity’, Ania Soliman’s site-specific work Kahrabaa (2022) responds to Beirut's energy crisis with large canvases combining technological and organic motifs. Dubai-based Hybrid Xperience will present a kaleidoscopic installation using artificial intelligence to conceptualise dreams and Total Arts at the Courtyard will debut Reconstructed Landscape, an art installation blending found objects into an imagined terrain that reflects a fragile human-environment relationship.

Other highlights of the programme include digital and artistic commissions from major partners. Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem’s new digital installation, Directions (Merging), commissioned by Swiss wealth management group Julius Baer, delves into the evolution of Dubai as a global hub for the future. Piaget will unveil Play of Shapes,a surrealist piece by Kuwaiti artist Alymamah Rashed inspired by their iconic 1960s and 1970s designs. The showcase will celebrate Piaget’s signature styles, creativity and craftsmanship through a display of bold jewellery and watch design collections.

Art Dubai 2025 decodes pivotal global issues and innovations for its audience. The Global Art Forum 2025, titled The New New Normal, will investigate how constant change moulds the world, making life increasingly unpredictable. Featuring pivotal thinkers, technologists, artists and forecasters, the forum will cover a wide roster of topics, from quantum computing and artificial intelligence to gamified economics and the cultural impacts of social media. The forum, hosted by Global Art Forum Commissioner Shumon Basar and curated by Y7 (Hannah Cobb and Declan Colquitt), will stage a lineup of notable speakers. Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, whose buildings epitomise modernity or the ‘new’, with a focus on the role of architecture in everyday life, and contemporary artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, amongst others, will expand on the theme through the lens of their atypical practices.

The second edition of the Digital Summit will build on Art Dubai Digital, bringing together international and local industry leaders to discuss the role of art and technology in addressing pressing environmental, social and political challenges. Helmed by Gonzalo Herrero Delicado, curator of Art Dubai Digital, the summit will catalyse discourses around ecological activism in media art, debates on artificial intelligence and the future of museums in the digital age and more, with contributions from museum directors, art curators and artists such as Ben Cullen Williams, Dr Daniel Felstead and academic and content producer Andrew Zolty (BREAKFAST). The second iteration of the summit is realised in strategic partnership with Dubai Culture, towards creating a long-term digital roadmap for the city. Dubai Culture steers the digital transformation of the city, focusing on data-driven efficiency and digitisation.

The Collector and Modern Talks, presented in partnership with the Dubai Collection, offer valuable perspectives on collecting modern art and contemporary art. While the former is an intimate platform for collectors to share and exchange their insights, motivations and the ever-changing nature of collecting, including discussions on ‘impact collecting', the latter, curated by art historian Dr. Nada Shabout and curator and writer Magalí Arriola, focuses on under-surveyed art histories, particularly the cultural ties between West Asia, North Africa and Latin America—addressing how artists navigate identity and heritage in contemporary landscapes. The fair will debut a ‘Conversations with Artists’ series, exploring the stories and achievements of international and regional artists. Under Partner Talks 2025, HUNA Living will present a new series of intimate conversations diving into the lives and practices of leading cultural voices in the UAE.

Art Dubai’s immersive installations, large-scale commissions and live experiences make the fair a dynamic platform for creative exploration. Integrating thought-provoking artworks with an extensive live programme, the art fair yields an environment that invites learning, dialogue and deeper engagement.

STIR is a Media Partner with Art Dubai 2025, which runs from April 18 - 20 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. Click here to read STIR's expansive coverage of the 18th edition.