Frieze Abu Dhabi Announces Inaugural Edition: 80+ Galleries

Frieze Abu Dhabi will open its inaugural edition on November 19 at Manarat Al Saadiyat, a roughly 15,400-square-meter gallery space in the Saadiyat Cultural District, and run through November 22.

The fair will feature more than 80 galleries from 36 countries. Emirati participants include Carbon 12, Lawrie Shabibi and The Third Line. Saudi Arabia is represented by Athr and Hafez Gallery, India by Experimenter, Galerie Isa, Jhaveri Contemporary, Nature Morte and Project 88, and Tunisia by A.Gorgi Gallery, Elmarsa Gallery and Selma Feriani. Tehran's Dastan also joins the roster.

According to Frieze Abu Dhabi, the first edition will focus on connecting established and emerging artists across the UAE and highlighting the region's history and contemporary practices. Central to that mission is In Dialogue, an annual "exhibition pairing" co-curated this year by Dirwaza Curatorial Lab — the Abu Dhabi-based creative incubator founded by Munira Al Sayegh — together with co-curators Hessa Al Nuaimi and Dania Al Tamimi. Its first project, At Another Meeting Pointing, features the work of Mohammed Kazem and Alia Zaal.

The fair will also debut the Frieze Abu Dhabi Artist Award, overseen by curator and art historian Nabila Abdel Nabi. She has selected Beirut- and London-based artist Dala Nasser as the award's first recipient. The prize will support Nasser with a new commission, while her piece Qubbat Duris (2023) will be spotlighted at the fair.

The work's title carries weight. Qubbat Duris borrows its name from a 13th-century monument near Baalbek, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, where fragments of Roman limestone sarcophagi are layered atop eight granite columns from centuries prior.

Dyala Nusseibeh, the director of Frieze Abu Dhabi, said in a statement that the inaugural fair takes shape "within a rich and evolving cultural landscape, and the program for our first edition responds to that context."

Like its sibling fairs in London and New York City, the Abu Dhabi edition will feature a sculpture garden. Frieze Sculpture Abu Dhabi debuts with Zeinab Alhashemi's The Nut and Bolt, alongside works by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Imran Qureshi and Kamran Samimi. The outdoor presentation runs from November 16 to December 16 at Mamsha Beach on Saadiyat Island — nearly a month longer than the fair itself.

Beyond the booths and sculptures, Frieze Abu Dhabi has programmed a talks series featuring artists, curators, museum professionals and patrons. Two talks have been announced. Building the Global Museum brings together Michael Govan and art historian Eugene Tan, former director of the National Gallery Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum, with moderation by Kate Fowle, director of arts programs at the Hearthland Foundation. The second, Curating Across Knowledge Systems, features curator Cosmin Costinas, Kelli Cole, and Claudia Segura, head of collections at Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona.

With a regional gallery roster, a dedicated pairing platform and a commissioning award from the outset, Frieze Abu Dhabi positions itself as an anchor event for the Saadiyat Cultural District's expanding fair calendar.