Returning to Dubai after a 10-year hiatus felt like the paradox of a familiar adventure until I met the city anew through the gateway of Art Dubai. Over a five-day trip, the view from the aeroplane of a cluster of exaggerated glass, steel, stone and mortar buildings submerged in an atmospheric desert haze gave way to reveal Dubai as a catalyst in shifting the global epicentre for visual arts, culture and allied creative fields in our times.

Featuring 120 art galleries from across five continents and over 60 cities, Art Dubai returned to its annual home - Madinat Jumeirah, from April 18 - 20, 2025, opening its doors on April 16 with a two-day VIP preview. Gearing up for its 20th anniversary soon, it was evident how the fair has established itself as MENA’s leading commercial platform for art and artists from lesser-represented geographies compared to traditional art hubs worldwide. The diversity of galleries showcasing a multiplicity of formats (traditional and new media) and a heterogenous artist portfolio across blue-chip, established and emerging booths, the impressive sales figures from day one as reported by the fair organisers, the affiliation with other regional institutions included in its programming and the presence of a truly global audience of collectors, art world professionals, enthusiasts and press, especially from Central Europe, South Asia and South East Asia besides local and western culturati (many of whom increasingly live between Dubai and elsewhere) stood testament to Art Dubai’s role in recalibrating the UAE’s cultural influence, adding to its position as a fast-growing tourist and business destination.

Here are 10 takeaways from Art Dubai and various collateral events:

1. The art world is visibly more women-led

Alexie Glass-Kantor, former executive director of Artspace, Sydney, was effortlessly seen easing into a new context and the newly created role of Executive Director, Curatorial. She will lead Art Dubai Group’s artistic vision and strategy across all its arts platforms. Dunja Gottweis, former Global Head of Gallery Relations at Art Basel, is the new director of the Art Dubai fair, taking over the 2026 edition in this role from Pablo del Val - who will remain the artistic director focused on creating international opportunities. Glass-Kantor and Gottweis join Benedetta Ghione, the incumbent executive director at Art Dubai; the three women will be based in Dubai as they chart the fair’s next phase.

The phenomenon was observed across partner venues such as Alserkal Avenue, which hosted the Alserkal Art Week simultaneously with Art Dubai. Alserkal Initiatives has Vilma Jurkute as executive director and Nada Raza as director of Alserkal Arts Foundation. The host for the pre-opening celebration, Jameel Arts Centre, has had founding director Antonia Carver at the helm since its inception and welcomed guests to three stellar shows and artist interactions during this time. Their presence helps challenge stereotypes about the GCC at large; in UAE governance, women hold over a quarter of ministerial positions, not just in “soft power” fields, but across a range of departments.

2. Women are buying more art

Does gender play a role in art market trends? The latest Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025 states, “Research in the sector has often shown that many collectors may not be biased in their choice of artists and gender may play a minor role in purchasing decisions. However, the availability of artists’ works through dealers and other channels ultimately determines a large part of the composition of collections and hence the minority of female artists represented at galleries has undoubtedly affected these ratios and the changes over time.” The study indicates that the lack of market parity may be more related to aspects of women artists’ career trajectories and institutional engagement. The survey offers a silver lining, noting that “there is growing evidence that female artists that do enter the commercial market are getting a greater proportion of sales”.

Art Dubai 2025 saw a widespread representation of women artists spanning generations through the Masters, Contemporary and Bawwaba sections at this edition, with press coverage spotlighting the role of women artists and arts professionals at the fair.

As chair of the panel ‘Women Collectors: From Plus-Ones to Power Players in the Art World’ held at the HUNA lounge (by HUNA Living), I moderated a conversation with three collectors from the STELLA Alliance - Chimere Cissé, Collector and STELLA Alliance co-founder; Margo Castro and Pat Wang Maugüé, Collectors and STELLA Founding Members. The session was curated by Greta Scarpa, STELLA co-founder. The conversation framed collecting motivations beyond assets and investments, buoyed by ‘The Great Wealth Transfer’, where those born before 1965 will bequeath an estimated $84.4 trillion in assets through to 2045, with $72.6 trillion going directly to heirs. The panel also highlighted how women support other women collectors to nurture individual ambitions, building an ethos of care into the practice.

3. Art Dubai is a window into a broader cultural landscape

Excursions to Alserkal Avenue, Hatta and Sharjah Biennial as part of the official itinerary demonstrated the fertile cultural nexus that the presence of the fair facilitated. At Alserkal Avenue, we saw the Nada Raza-curated Vanishing Points by Imran Qureshi featuring multimedia works with support from Nature Morte, Shilpa Gupta’s new outdoor commission and an extensive show, Lines of Flight at Ishara Art Foundation.

Shaikha Al Mazrou’s sculptural intervention, Deliberate Pauses, presented by Alserkal Arts Foundation, in partnership with Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, left an impression on art world crowds and hikers alike. Set against the backdrop of Leem Lake in Hatta, the reflective metallic sculpture served as a catalyst, encouraging more public art in the region.

Efie Gallery’s I Am Soil, My Tears Are Water by María Magdalena Campos-Pons, curated by Faridah Folawiyo, probed the symbiotic relationship between nature and humanity. As part of the 16th Sharjah Biennial, Monira Al Qadiri’s Gastromancer (2023) sees two seashell sculptures engage in a dialogue about gender transformations.

4. Jameel Arts Centre impressed with three excellent exhibitions

This was the venue for the pre-opening VIP bash for Art Dubai, on the other end of town from Madinat Jumeirah. If the three parallel shows on view are an indicator of the Jameel Arts Centre's curatorial intent and calendar, it makes for a permanent stop on every future UAE itinerary.

Artist and cultural researcher Asunción Molinos Gordo’s The Peasant, the Scholar and the Engineer offered a survey of food systems, labour and land. Eltiqa: How to Work Together? unpacks how artists in Gaza continue to practice, exhibit, dialogue with each other and offer mutual support over 20 years and through the latest escalation of hostilities on the strip. Seeing the show added context to displays by Ramallah galleries at Art Dubai – Zawyeh Gallery and Gallery One. Tầm Tã – Soaked in the Long Rain spans painting, installation, performance, community engagement and institution-making and is the first international survey exhibition of Vietnamese contemporary artist Trần Lương.

5. A bird’s eye view of high-speed sales

As a journalist, one walks the corridors of global art fairs absorbing the murmur of human commerce. The loudest noise on the VIP days at Art Dubai happened to be of the proverbial cash registers. Many sales were witnessed first-hand and the speed of transactions and decision-making was notable, gesturing to the art buying attitude in the region.

As per a sales report received from Art Dubai, A.R.M. Holdings, the fair's lead sponsor, confirmed acquisitions totalling over 275,000 USD. First-time exhibitor Galleri Brandstrup (Oslo) sold two works by Diana al-Hadid with total sales in excess of 300,000 USD. Indian galleries – Blueprint12 – in its fourth year at the fair, almost sold out their stand by Kaimurai, and Priyanka Raja of Experimenter confirmed selling over 80 per cent of their presentation in the opening hours of the fair to institutions and private collections in the US, Europe and the UK. LIAN Foundation launched a new acquisition fund at Art Dubai Digital with the purchase of significant work by DeeKay, priced at 250,000 USD. Dubai-based Carbon 12 reported strong sales, rehanging their presentation on more than one occasion during the fair. OUCHHH Studio’s MotherEarth, the world’s first cross-continental AI data sculpture, sold to an international collector who flew in to Dubai specifically to view the installation.

6. In its Art Dubai walkthrough, STIR brought galleries and South East Asian collectors together

STIR and Art Dubai collaborated to organise a curated walkthrough facilitated by art consultant Noelle Kadar, with a group of collectors from Singapore and Malaysia. This proved to be a unique capsule experience capturing the collector – gallerist – artist triarchy across 11 of the participating galleries, including Jeddah-based ATHR Gallery with a group show curated by Rami Farook, New York's Bortolami Gallery (Stefania Bortolami and Amalia Dayan), Lisbon's Pedro Cera Gallery, Jhaveri Contemporary, founded by Amrita and Priya Jhaveri, Green Art Gallery, run by Yasmin Atassi, Kourosh Nouri’s Carbon 12, Madrid-based contemporary gallery Albarrán Bourdais, New Delhi’s Gallery Espace, run by Renu Modi, Riddhi Bhalla and Mandira Lamba’s Blueprint12, Bhavna Kakar’s Latitude 28 and Mamta Singhania’s Anant Art Gallery. Experience the walkthrough through this video roundup.

7. Individual galleries, and a local cohort

Even as they impressed individually, when viewed as a cohort, galleries from Dubai echoed the pulse of the cross-cultural epicentre the region is becoming. Exhibiting across both the Contemporary and Modern sections, Lawrie Shabibi displayed a dynamic showcase of works exploring themes of ecology, Indigenous identity and culture. Carbon 12’s layered presentations spanning painting, sculpture and installation crafted a visual language bridging ancestral traditions and contemporary life. Green Art Gallery featured cross-generational artists from the Global South – including Nazgol Ansarinia, ceramicist Dorsa Asadi, Kamrooz Aram, multidisciplinary artist Rossella Biscotti and New York-based Maryam Hoseini – making inquiries into gender disparity and complex political landscapes. Mondoir Gallery, part of Art Dubai Digital, presented digital and physical works by their founder and art collector, Amir Soleymani (also known as Mondoir). Additionally, as part of the showcase, he unveiled his second book, Fools & JPEGs, which offers a satirical exploration of the rise of NFTs and digital art.

8. International galleries, regional flavours

International galleries brought an interesting mix of artists to the fair, clearly chosen for the context of Art Dubai and the collecting interests understood as patterns for its commercial success. With a clear mandate on Global South representation, galleries across scales and statures were seen showcasing a range of artists.

Peju Alatise’s If Nigeria will not Wear her Own Cloth (2019) at Aicon Gallery’s booth stood out for its political critique and symbolism. At Mumbai-based Chemould Prescott Road, Dana Awartani’s concave sculpture, Where the Dwellers Lay was made out of locally sourced stone, drawing on the vernacular architecture of AlUla. Gallery Threshold and Richard Saltoun debuted at the fair – at the Threshold booth, bold typography and a vibrant visual language characterised Pandit Khairnar’s paintings and Richard Saltoun showcased works by pivotal female artists (Romany Eveleigh, Simryn Gill, Greta Schodl, Bertina Lopes and Samira Abbassy). RGR Gallery showcased a dynamic mix of Latin American practices. The Male Figure, an exhibition by Grosvenor Gallery with works by Anwar Saeed (b. 1955) and Faiza Butt (b. 1973) challenged gendered representations and societal constructs in South Asia.

9. Branded commissions and initiatives

Long-time fair sponsors and supporters continued their artistic commissions and projects. Swiss wealth management group Julius Baer commissioned a major digital work by Mohammed Kazem, Directions (Merging), marking 10 years of a long-standing partnership with the fair. Themes of space and movement informed the work, which was launched at the Julius Baer Lounge. Further affirming institutional engagement and support of Dubai’s artistic landscape was BMW’s fourth commission in the Art Car series, the M1 painted by Andy Warhol in just 28 minutes in 1979. Julien Charrière featured in the Conversations with Nature series presented at the Ruinart Lounge. The Franco-Swiss artist’s work established an interconnected sense of responsibility between land and underwater ecosystems, in light of current environmental crises.

10. The Dubai Collection made space for a student intervention

The Dubai Collection showcased Common Grounds, an exhibition that advocated a pluralistic approach to understanding art with students from Zayed University – curated by Shamsa Al Qubaisi, Maryam Al Zaabi and Sara Al Sulaimani. An initiative of Dubai Culture managed by Art Dubai Group, the ‘wall-less museum’ partners with patrons to foster a lasting culture of collecting through public interventions.

Editorial assistance by Asmita Singh

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.