Two Emirati Artists Take Center Stage at Frieze Abu Dhabi

Mohammed Kazem and Alia Zaal will be shown in cross-generational dialogue at the first Frieze Abu Dhabi, a fair that opens at Manarat Al Saadiyat on 19 November with 88 galleries and a particular focus on the Swana region, meaning South-west Asia and North Africa. For the artists and gallerists who have spent years building the UAE’s creative community, the moment is one they have been working toward.

News accompanying the fair touches those living and working in Abu Dhabi’s cultural scene directly. Aldar, the emirate’s leading real-estate development company and the official fair partner, used Frieze London this week to unveil Noma, a new “creative neighbourhood” for the city. Its gold logo appeared on the place settings at Thursday night’s Collectors’ Dinner in the Frieze London tent, a signal of how prominently the project is being positioned.

Concrete plans for Noma have yet to be released. Even so, the idea of a district built around creative life speaks to a push that residents of the city’s art world have watched develop over several years. In a 2021 interview with The Art Newspaper, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism, described a deliberate strategy of supporting artists rather than simply constructing landmarks. “In Abu Dhabi there has been a very clear and conscious decision to invest in culture, and investing in culture does not just mean buildings,” he said at the time. “We’re investing in infrastructure, both soft and hard, whether it’s institutions, music programmes, or school curricula.” Al Mubarak also serves as chairman of Aldar.

For the artists themselves, such districts have proven to be more than real estate. Across the Gulf, neighbourhoods that combine exhibition and studio space have given artistic communities a durable foothold. Alserkal Avenue in Dubai remains the most prominent case, with most of the UAE’s major galleries now long-term residents of its pedestrianised streets. Riyadh has developed Jax, a post-industrial zone housing artist studios and the Diriyah Biennale spaces. In Abu Dhabi, the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation recently launched Miza, a creative district centred on its Warehouse421 arts space in the city’s port area. Noma takes its name, in New York fashion, from its position north of Manarat Al Saadiyat, the multi-purpose exhibition venue that has hosted Abu Dhabi Art since 2011 and will now welcome Frieze.

Meanwhile, the fair’s programme carries elements familiar to longtime Frieze visitors alongside a deliberate nod to the artists who built the local scene. Frieze Sculpture will place public works along the beach at Mamsha on Saadiyat’s northern edge, and the programme includes a Focus section and Frieze Masters, curated by Marika Sardar. The Abu Dhabi-based collective Dirwaza Curatorial Lab is staging the Kazem and Zaal pairing, while the Global Futures section will show artists with well-established profiles in the country, among them Abdullah Al Saadi and Ala Younis.

Uncertainty, however, hangs over the event for the people planning to attend. US President Donald Trump continues to make incendiary claims about a resumption of the war with Iran, though it is difficult to judge how seriously to take them. The closure of Saudi Arabia’s airspace this week, tied to a conflict the UAE is not currently part of, has left some gallerists nervous. Frieze has stressed that the organisation and the Department of Culture and Tourism are “fully committed to Frieze Abu Dhabi, and preparations are well advanced for the opening on 19 November”. A spokesperson added: “We are in close and regular contact with our exhibitors, and will be as flexible as we sensibly can be for any gallery affected by travel advisories outside their control. As with every Frieze fair, the safety of participants is the primary consideration in all our planning, and we are working closely with DCT and the relevant authorities.”

Further details on the fair and the district announcement can be found at https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/10/16/new-abu-dhabi-cultural-district-announced-ahead-of-inaugural-frieze-fair. Frieze Abu Dhabi runs at Manarat Al Saadiyat from 19 to 22 November, and whether the airspace closures ease before then may shape who is actually in the room.