Dubai

Dubai's position in the international art market has shifted considerably over the past two decades. Since Christie's held its first auction of modern and contemporary art in the Middle East in the city in 2006, the emirate has developed into a genuine commercial hub, underpinned by a network of private galleries, international auction house offices, and an annual fair that has grown in ambition and reach with each successive edition. According to Bain and Company's 2025 analysis, the Middle East remains the art market's strongest regional performer, with projected growth of between four and six percent. Christie's president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Anthea Peers, has noted that sales of modern Middle Eastern art — a consistent favourite with local collectors — tripled in value between 2020 and 2024. The UAE has also become an attractive destination for high-net-worth individuals: Henley & Partners placed it at the top of its 'millionaire inflows' list in 2024, with an estimated 6,700 new arrivals. These conditions have sustained gallery operations and encouraged new entrants from Europe and North America.

The geography of Dubai's gallery scene divides broadly into two areas. The majority of established galleries are concentrated in Alserkal Avenue, a cultural district that grew from a modest cluster of warehouses in the Al Quoz industrial area into a 500,000-square-foot compound integrating galleries, non-profits, performing arts spaces, and artisanal businesses. A second cluster remains in and around the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a tax-advantaged economic zone in the city centre that is home to Sotheby's, Christie's, Perrotin, and a number of secondary-market operations. The Dubai Design District (d3) has more recently attracted gallery interest, with the inaugural Gary Tatintsian Gallery show there opening in early 2026. Art Dubai, the region's flagship fair, held annually at the Madinat Jumeirah and scheduled for 17–19 April 2026, continues to serve as the principal engine of market visibility.

What follows is a gallery-by-gallery account of the principal private commercial spaces currently operating in Dubai, with relevant exhibition information for 2026 and notes on market activity where these have been publicly reported.

ALSERKAL AVENUE

Founded in 2008 by property developer Abdelmonem bin Eisa Alserkal, Alserkal Avenue began as a speculative cultural investment in Dubai's light-industrial Al Quoz district and has since established itself as the geographic centre of the city's contemporary art ecosystem. Today it houses more than a dozen commercial galleries, alongside non-profit organisations including Alserkal Art Foundation and Ishara Art Foundation, and a multidisciplinary venue, Concrete, designed by Rem Koolhaas's OMA practice. The combination of large-footprint warehouse spaces — unavailable in the DIFC — and below-market rents has made it the preferred address for galleries requiring significant installation capacity.

Ayyam Gallery

Ayyam Gallery was founded in 2006 in Damascus by Khaled and Jouhayna Samawi. As the Syrian conflict developed, the Samawi family made the consequential decision to relocate both the gallery's operations and a group of some twenty to twenty-five Syrian artists, their families, and an archive of more than 22,000 works of art from Damascus to Dubai. That act of institutional preservation has since become central to the gallery's identity. The Dubai space, located at Units 11 and 12 on Alserkal Avenue, is the gallery's permanent headquarters, with additional spaces in Beirut and a history of outposts in London, Jeddah, and elsewhere.

Ayyam represents a roster that spans established and emerging artists working primarily across the Arab world and Iran. Among those whose careers the gallery has closely managed are Safwan Dahoul, Samia Halaby — who was selected for the 82nd Whitney Biennial — Faisal Samra, Sama Alshaibi, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Tammam Azzam, and Kais Salman, who was born in Syria in 1976. The gallery operates a multilingual publishing division and a custodianship programme covering the estates of important historical artists. It participates regularly in Art Dubai, Art Geneva, Asia Now, and other international fairs.

In 2026, Ayyam's Dubai programme includes the solo exhibition Remnants by Kais Salman (17 January – 18 March 2026). Artist Faisal Samra has been announced as a participant in the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, titled 'In Interludes.' Ali Kaaf, recently added to the gallery's roster, will take part in the 7th edition of the Mardin Biennale in Turkey in May 2026. Works by Khaled Akil and Tammam Azzam have also been included in an upcoming student-curated exhibition at Maraya Art Center, drawing from the Barjeel Art Foundation collection.

Website: https://www.ayyamgallery.com

Green Art Gallery

Green Art Gallery is one of Dubai's oldest continuously operating commercial spaces, with a history that traces back to a salon d'art in a Jumeirah villa in 1995. The gallery's origins go further still: it began above a small bookstore in Homs, Syria, before relocating to the UAE. Under the direction of Yasmin Atassi, the gallery moved to Alserkal Avenue in 2010 and underwent a significant programmatic reinvention. Having marked its thirtieth year in January 2025, it now operates as a rigorous contemporary art space with a multi-generational roster spanning the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Turkey, and beyond.

The gallery's represented artists include Turkish practitioners Hale Tenger and Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, Iranian artists Kamrooz Aram and Nazgol Ansarinia, and Palestinian, Pakistani, and Venezuelan artists Shadi Habib Allah, Seher Shah, and Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck, respectively. Green Art Gallery also maintains a parallel Arab Modernist programme. It is located at Warehouse 3, Alserkal Avenue.

In 2026, the gallery is presenting the solo exhibition When the Window Refused to Fly, and the Arch Decided to Hold the Sky by Asma Belhamar, curated by Duygu Demir (17 January – 18 March 2026). The exhibition features drawings and assemblies of three-dimensionally printed stoneware clay, wood, and ceramic tiles. In parallel, artist Michael Rakowitz — whose work the gallery supports internationally — has an installation on view at the Acropolis Museum in Athens as part of his trilogy Michael Rakowitz and Ancient Cultures (6 October 2025 – 31 October 2026).

Website: https://www.gagallery.com

Lawrie Shabibi

Founded by William Lawrie and Asmaa Al-Shabibi in 2010 and opened in early 2011, Lawrie Shabibi occupies Unit 21 on Alserkal Avenue and has been among the most consistent contributors to the development of contemporary art practice in the region. The gallery's initial focus was on emerging artists from the Middle East and North Africa, with a particular interest in diaspora practices exploring identity, memory, history, and socio-political experience. Over time, the programme has expanded to include international artists from other regions while maintaining that core emphasis on the underrepresented. In 2020 the gallery established an outpost at London's Cromwell Place.

The gallery's current programme in Dubai includes the solo exhibition Invisible Fish by Saif Azzuz (17 January – 3 April 2026), an American artist of Libyan heritage. At Art Dubai 2025, the gallery presented works in both the Contemporary and Modern sectors. Separately, in early 2025, Lawrie Shabibi staged the exhibition Form and Rhythm at Sotheby's Dubai as part of The Gallery Collective, running from 12 March to 7 May 2025. Reports from Art Dubai in previous years noted that sales moved rapidly, with works trading during the VIP preview and others sold by the second fair day — a pattern consistent across the busiest exhibitors at the event.

The gallery also participated in Art Basel Hong Kong 2025 with presentations in both the Kabinett and Galleries sectors. Among the artists it represents are Hamra Abbas, Mandy El Sayegh, Elias Sime, Timo Nasseri, Marwan Bassiouni, and Dima Srouji.

Website: https://www.lawrieshabibi.com

CARBON 12

CARBON 12 was established in 2008 by Kourosh Nouri and Nadine Knotzer and occupies Unit 37 on Alserkal Avenue. It describes itself as the first gallery in the region to develop a comprehensive, institution-grade international programme, a positioning that has defined its approach across nearly two decades of operation. In 2024, the gallery celebrated its sixteenth year and its 95th exhibition, a solo presentation by Mexican artist Edgar Orlaineta. The gallery has represented artists including Mohammed Kazem, Abdul Rahman Katanani, Dia Azzawi, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, and Timo Nasseri, among others.

The gallery's programme is deliberately global in scope, moving beyond a regional focus to engage with contemporary practices across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Its contact details are: Unit 37, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz 1, PO Box 214437, Dubai.

Website: https://www.carbon12dubai.com

Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde

Belgian art dealer Isabelle van den Eynde established B21 Gallery in 2006, one of the earliest dedicated contemporary art spaces in the UAE. She subsequently launched her eponymous gallery in Alserkal Avenue in 2010. Located at Unit 17, Street 8, Al Quoz 1, the gallery has built a reputation for conceptually rigorous programming that regularly challenges the conventions of a commercial space. Its roster spans artists from the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and Africa, with notable figures including Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem, Iranian artists Rokni and Ramin Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian, Idris Khan, and Hassan Sharif.

The gallery publishes artist catalogues and participates in major international fairs. Its programme has historically included prominent group and solo exhibitions with an emphasis on installation, video, and conceptual work. The gallery's contact telephone is +971 4 323 5052.

Website: https://www.ivde.net

Grey Noise

Grey Noise was first established in Lahore, Pakistan in 2005 by Umer Butt before launching in Dubai in 2008. Located on Alserkal Avenue, the gallery operates with co-director Hetal Pawani and has developed a programme focused on experimental and avant-garde practices, with a particular emphasis on South Asian artists alongside European and Middle Eastern practitioners. The gallery represents a deliberately small and carefully selected roster that has included Pakistani artists Mehreen Murtaza and Lala Rukh, and Lebanese conceptual artist Charbel-joseph H. Boutros. The programme's commitment to the experimental has given Grey Noise a distinct identity within the Alserkal Avenue cluster.

Website: https://www.greynoise.org

The Third Line

The Third Line was founded in 2005 by Sunny Rahbar, Claudia Cellini, and Omar Ghobash in a warehouse in Al Quoz, making it one of the earliest contemporary galleries in Dubai specifically dedicated to Middle Eastern art. The gallery relocated to a larger double-storey space at Alserkal Avenue in early 2016, at Warehouse 78, Al Quoz 1. Alongside its commercial programme, it operates a non-profit initiative that supports cultural practices in the region, produces bilingual art publications, and runs programming around art, music, literature, and film. The Third Line has participated consistently in Art Dubai and Frieze London and New York.

The gallery's roster of approximately thirty artists spans established and emerging practices from across the Middle East and beyond. Its programme continues to be one of the more research-oriented among Dubai's commercial spaces.

Website: https://www.thethirdline.com

Custot Gallery Dubai

Custot Gallery Dubai was founded by French dealer Stéphane Custot — who also owns Waddington Custot in London, though the two galleries operate independently — and opened in March 2016. Occupying approximately 700 square metres at Unit 84, Street 6A, Al Quoz 1 on Alserkal Avenue, it is one of the larger spaces in the district. Custot opened in part because the warehouse-scale spaces available in Alserkal Avenue had no equivalent in the DIFC.

The gallery's programme focuses on modern and contemporary European and American artists, among them Fernando Botero, Marc Quinn, Bernar Venet, Ian Davenport, Peter Halley, Fabienne Verdier, Pierre Soulages, Jean Dubuffet, and the estates of Barry Flanagan and Robert Indiana. This orientation toward blue-chip Western names differentiates Custot from the majority of its Alserkal Avenue neighbours, whose programmes tend to foreground regional and Global South practices.

Website: https://www.custotgallerydubai.ae

Leila Heller Gallery

Leila Heller established her eponymous gallery in New York in 1982. The Dubai space on Alserkal Avenue, which opened in November 2015, spans approximately 14,000 square feet across three exhibition spaces — making it the largest gallery in the UAE by floorplate. The programme is notably eclectic, drawing on international curators and presenting work across a wide range of disciplines, from painting and sculpture to video and installation. The gallery maintains its New York headquarters alongside the Dubai operation.

Website: https://www.leilahellergallery.com

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE (DIFC)

The DIFC and its immediate surroundings — Gate Village in particular — serve as the second major cluster for commercial galleries in Dubai. The area's proximity to Sotheby's and Christie's, luxury hospitality, and its position as an autonomous economic zone offering tax advantages have attracted several international names. The proximity of these businesses to each other has created a distinct node of the market oriented toward secondary sales and established blue-chip works.

Perrotin

Perrotin is one of the most internationally active contemporary art galleries, with locations across Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Los Angeles, London, and Dubai. The Dubai space opened in January 2025 at the Dubai International Financial Centre, near Sotheby's and Christie's. It arose from a partnership between gallery founder Emmanuel Perrotin and dealers Dylan Lessel and Tom-David Bastok, whose secondary-market operation in Paris had found that a significant proportion of consignments originated from Dubai. The Dubai space consequently places a notable emphasis on secondary-market dealing alongside primary exhibitions.

The gallery presented works at Art Dubai 2025 by Monira Al Qadiri, Takashi Murakami, Lee Bae, and Shim Moon-Seup, with prices ranging from approximately €4,300 to $400,000. In 2026, Perrotin Dubai presented the solo exhibition The Drifting Island by Xiyao Wang (14 January – 28 February 2026). The gallery has previously staged presentations of work by KAWS and Keith Haring in Dubai.

Website: https://www.perrotin.com

Gary Tatintsian Gallery

The Gary Tatintsian Gallery, founded in New York and with a long-established presence at Art Dubai, opened a physical space in Dubai's Design District (d3) in 2026. The gallery inaugurated its d3 premises with a group exhibition titled Dubai Design District: The Inaugural Exhibition, running from 20 February to 31 May 2026. The gallery's presence in the Design District marks a modest expansion of Dubai's gallery geography beyond the established Alserkal Avenue and DIFC clusters.

Website: https://www.tatintsian.com

MARKET CONTEXT AND FAIR CALENDAR

Art Dubai remains the principal commercial event structuring the gallery year. The 2026 edition, scheduled for 17 to 19 April at the Madinat Jumeirah, has reorganised its gallery sections to include a Contemporary programme, a dedicated Modern section called Zamaniyyat (curated by Dr. Sarah A. Rifky, bringing together 11 galleries and 45 artists from over 20 countries), and a Bawwaba section for solo presentations of newly commissioned work by emerging to mid-career artists, curated by Amal Khalaf. A new section for 2026, Bawwaba Extended, spans the entire fair environment with installations, digital media, moving image, and sound. Art Dubai Digital, curated by Ulrich Schrauth and Nadine Khalil under the theme 'Myth of the Digital,' continues to develop the fair's engagement with the field.

World Art Dubai, a separate and more market-accessible fair aimed at a broader collector base, is scheduled for 23 to 26 April 2026. The two fairs running in close proximity reflect both the depth of demand in the emirate and the competitive pressure now being applied to the Gulf region more broadly: Art Basel Qatar is set to debut in February 2026, and Frieze has announced plans for Abu Dhabi.

The structural conditions supporting gallery activity in Dubai include the absence of income tax and capital gains tax for individuals, the relative ease of business establishment, and a population that is overwhelmingly expatriate and internationally mobile. Christie's, which has maintained a Dubai office since 2005, has been increasing its staffing in the city. Sotheby's has deepened its ties with the Gulf following a $1 billion investment from the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ. These auction house commitments reinforce the commercial ecology in which galleries operate and, for the strongest secondary-market names, provide a complementary venue for price discovery.

The transition within the collector base is, by most accounts, gradual rather than sudden. ATHR Gallery co-founder Hafiz has noted publicly that the expectation of an undifferentiated, cash-rich Gulf buyer base misrepresents a market that, like any other, requires long-term commitment and sustained relationship-building. Collectors are, however, becoming more knowledgeable and regionally connected, moving regularly between Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Riyadh. For galleries with programmes that speak to the specificities of the region and its diaspora communities, the alignment between what is shown and who is collecting has become more coherent.