Your Guide to Dubai’s Summer Art Scene

While Dubai’s vibrant art calendar traditionally slows to a quiet drift as the  summer heat rises, the city’s creative pulse refuses to fade entirely. To help culture seekers navigate this indoor season Middle East Masala lists an exciting line-up of exhibitions across the city’s art galleries.

Tangerine Dreams

Ayyam Gallery, Al Quoz (until September 18, 2026)

Tangerine Dreams at Ayyam Gallery, spotlights the colour orange, as participating artists create art inspired by this vibrant shade. Embodying both vitality and reflection, the colour orange is often associated with sunlight, fire, ripe fruit and shifting horizons. In Tangerine  Dreams viewers will discover how a single hue can forge unexpected connections across artistic practices, generations and geographies. The exhibition also includes the poem Oranges by Roisin Kelly.

Khali Balak Men RISO

Tashkeel, Dubai (until August 21, 20 26)

Khali Balak Men RISO, is a group exhibition that celebrates the spirit of risograph printing. Each risograph print is unique, with an unexpected outcome and beautiful imperfections. Curated by multidisciplinary artist and calligrapher Ibrahim Zaki, the exhibition invites participants and viewers to slow down, look closer and appreciate the art that is created when ink, paper and machine meet. Participating artists include Ahmed Mansour, Aysha Saif Al Hemrani Al Shamsi, Bassem Boules, Dina Saadi, Ibrahim Zaki, Mariam Abbas, Mohannad Orabi, Nasir Nasrallah, Sara Baali and Weam S. Ali.

Summer Vibes

Opera Gallery, Dubai (until August 31, 2026)

Spanning multiple generations, the exhibition offers a rich dialogue between post- war masters and leading contemporary voices. On view at Summer Vibes are celebrated contemporary pieces – including American artist KAWS’ monumental sculpture Companion (Grey Colorway), Philadelphia-based painter Thomas Dillon’s Just One Look, featuring a bold and multicoloured palette, British artist Julian Opie’s Hirofumi with Hat, reflecting his highly stylised approach to portraiture, Spanish painter Miguel Sainz Ojeda’s Confidentes and Dutch artist Pieter Obels’ You Need Me Now? transforming Corten steel into sinuous forms. Also on view are art by SEVERAL iconic master artists including Fernando Botero, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, André Brasilier, Sam Francis, Yayoi Kusama, Shepard Fairey, Gustavo Nazareno, Noel Anderson, Joe Black, Xevi Solà, and Manolo Valdés.

Between Memory and Imagination

Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai (until September 13, 2026)

Through this exhibition, a group of contemporary artists examine how memory and imagination – be it individual, collective or inherited – continue to shape contemporary artistic expression. The exhibition presents works across painting, sculpture, glass, photography, ceramics, mirror, mixed media, and installations. Instead of presenting a singular narrative, the exhibition embraces plurality working with distinct visual languages transforming lived experiences into poetic, symbolic and deeply personal works of art. Exhibiting artists include Aref Montazeri, Atieh Sohrabi, Bahar Sabzevari, Baran Shafiey, Behrang Samadzadegan, Dale Chihuly, Darvish Fakhr, Douglas White, Katya Emelyanova, Katya Traboulsi, Mannana Hassan, Maria Jose Benvenuto, Mark Hadjipateras, Maryam Lamei, Mehdi Farhadian, Melis Buyruk, Morteza Khazaie, Morteza Khosravi, Parinaz Eleish, Reza Aramesh, Reza Derakshani, Roya Akhavan Shahabi, Ryan Koopmans & Alice Wexell, and Shiva Ahmadi.

Threads of Humanity: Art as a Universal Language

By Funun Arts at Al Shindagha Museum, Dubai (until August 15, 2026)

This summer art festival curated by Funun Arts group, in collaboration with Dubai Cultural and Creative Spaces is a 21 day intensive event featuring an exhibition of 65 artworks by 40 artists from 15 nationalities. At House 353, in the historic Al Shindagha neighbourhood along the Dubai creek, spread across nine house, the artists are exhibiting art created around the theme —  threads of humanity. The exhibition also includes an extensive daily programming including panel talks, masterclasses, workshops, art walks and youth days.

Avid Creative Canvas: The Art of Connection

Avid Centre for Culture and Creative Expressions, Al Khayat Avenue, Dubai (until September 13, 2026)

Avid Creative Canvas: The Art of Connection is the inaugural exhibition at Avid Learning Middle East’s new cultural centre bringing together established and emerging artists based in the UAE, fostering creative dialogue and collaboration. Featuring works across painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media and video projection, the exhibition offers a rich tapestry of perspectives and artistic voices reflecting human connection. Participating artists include Ati, Akshita Lad, Shahzad Ghazi, Kenneth Sagar, Gemma Gallagher, Marjorie Raymond, Deeriide, Yun Kusanagi, Farnaz Faridfar, Sophiya Khwaja, Parul Parasramka, Sabrina Gassner, Masarratfatima Sulaimani, Viktoria Sosonka, ÄJ, Melika and Birute Brandt.

In Abstracto, In Concreto: On Memory and Presence

Efie Gallery, Dubai (until September 17, 2026)

In Abstracto, In Concreto brings together a set of African artists and their diaspora experiences, exploring memory, identity, inheritance and belonging, curated by independent gallerist and art curator Brice Arsène Yonkeu. On view are British Nigerian artist Tunji Adeniyi-Jones’ vivid palettes, that recall the chromatic intensity of Henri Matisse. US-based Lagos born artist Luke Agada’s charcoal on canvas works with dense architectural compositions, Cameroonian artist Ludovic Nkoth’s layered oil paintings and flattened perspectives and Gabonese artist Naila Opiangah’s work depicting faceless female-coded forms emerging through layered oil, graphite, charcoal and solvent.

In plain Sight by Alia Zaal

Gallery Isabelle, Dubai (until September 15, 2026)

Emirati visual artist Alia Zaal’s solo exhibition, In Plain Sight, showcases art on canvas, paper and ceramic tiles. She depicts an extensive and intricate detailing of local landscapes, with features of familiar plants, trees, flora and fauna from scrublands of Khawaneej, Dubai and the mangroves and mud flats of Abu Dhabi’s coastline. These artworks present a mediation on site-specificity and real-life experiences. For the artist, these fragments of the landscape serve as a broader commentary on vision and memory. She also takes inspiration from the ancient Islamic text Kitab al-Manazir (The Book of Optics).

The Two Walks

Carbon 12 Gallery (until September 5, 2026)

The Two Walks is a group show of new and archival works on paper selected by Dubai-based chef and art curator Judy Karkour. The exhibition includes artworks by 14 artists, from distinct material and artistic backgrounds, exploring paper as a medium that challenges scale as grandiose. Each artist uses and moulds paper in myriads of ways, expanding its creative possibilities. The exhibition features art by Sarah Almehairi, Farish Alsahafar, André Butzer, Bernhard Buhmann, Nadine Ghandour, Monika Grabuschnigg, Amir Khojasteh, Nouri Malas, Solimar Miller, Philip Mueller, Mayar Obedo, Edgar Orlaineta, and Amba Sayal-Bennett.

Collectors’ Entry Point: Select Works under $ 3,000

Fann A Porter Gallery, Dubai (until September 20, 2026)

Select works by emerging, mid-career, and established artists priced at $3,000 and below are part of this exhibition at the gallery. Conceived as an accessible entry into collecting, the exhibition can provide a foothold for those beginning a collection or expanding it with thoughtful additions. Across diverse media and styles, this exhibition offers highlights from Fann À Porter’s artists, with the addition of emerging UAE-based artists exhibiting at the gallery for the first time including Antoine Deeb, Jude Maharmeh and Lynn Issa.

Cover Image: Integration is Hard by Abdalla Al Omari (Tangerine Dreams at Ayyam Gallery)

All pics supplied by galleries