Dubai Collection Nights 2026 Explores ‘Mapping Memories' Across Two-Weeks of Exhibitions and Talks

UAE, Dubai, 25 February 2026: Dubai Collection Nights has returned with its fourth edition, and will take place over the next two weeks until 8 March. The expanded 14-day programme opened yesterday and features a special exhibition alongside curated public events, including workshops, artist studio tours and talks. This year's edition marks the most ambitious iteration of Dubai Collection Nights to date, held across multiple venues throughout the city, with the Al Safa Art and Design Library serving as the central hub for the programme. 

Inspired by Dubai Collection's 2026 theme, Mapping Memories: Landscapes in Flux and Geometries of the Imagination, Dubai Collection Nights is designed to bring the public closer to the diverse narratives, aesthetic approaches, and cultural perspectives represented in Dubai's first institutional collection of modern and contemporary art. 

This year's edition of Dubai Collection Nights opened with In Attunement, an exhibition curated by Jumanah Abbas, bringing together Dubai Collection artists from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Exploring how artistic and collecting practices circulate within the Collection, the presentation offers a fresh reading of abstraction and geometry, inviting a slower, more attentive engagement with landscapes and cities in formation. Highlights include works by pioneering Emirati artist Hassan Sharif, Palestinian-American abstractionist Samia Halaby, London-based Minimalist Rana Begum, and Lebanese sculptor Chaouki Choukini, celebrated for his bold yet poetic wooden forms.

The two-week edition of Dubai Collection Nights also offers the opportunity to tour the studios of artists living and working across the city, including those of Dubai Collection artists Hazem Harb and Saif Mhaisen. These limited number of tours will run alongside visits to grassroots initiatives and corporate collections.

Muna Faisal Al Gurg, Chair of the Dubai Collection Curatorial Committee and CEO of the Museums and Heritage Sector at Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, said, “Dubai Collection Nights invites the public to encounter the Collection as it lives within the city, across homes, studios and places of study. This year's theme further reflects the way artworks carry traces of movement, belonging and recollection, allowing different histories to meet within a single landscape.

“The Collection was conceived so that works held in private care could participate in a communal cultural memory. Through these encounters, collecting becomes an act of stewardship. Each year, we are witnessing the emergence of a deeper understanding of art built through conversation and return, where past and present remain in critical dialogue.”

Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director of Art Dubai Group, noted, “Dubai Collection Nights is a special yearly gathering for our community, celebrating the richness of art from this region. This year's expanded two-week programme gives audiences more time to explore our special exhibition, attend talks, and visit artists' studios, with a particular focus on artists that provide essential context to our region's cultural history. It's a unique chance to see works from the Dubai Collection that are usually held in private homes and to engage directly with the ideas and practices shaping the city's art scene.”

Dubai Collection Nights includes a series of panel discussions held at Al Safa Art and Design Library, exploring themes of patronage, collecting, curatorial practice and the preservation of cultural memory. These include Collectors as Patrons: Tracing the Legacy of Art Patronage, bringing together Dubai Collection patrons in conversation with Hala Khayat, Special Advisor, Arts and Culture, Art Dubai; and Preservation Through Archiving: Sustaining Memory Across Generations, with Adina Hempel, Director of Zayed Institute for Architecture, Heritage, and Arts, and art historian Nada Shabout, in conversation with author and cultural strategist Myrna Ayad. A dedicated Curator's Corner session will focus on curatorial research and practice, featuring Suheyla Takesh, Director of the Barjeel Art Foundation.

Workshops form a key part of the series, offering hands-on experiences for all ages. Emirati artist Sarah Almehairi will lead a patron workshop focused on geometry and abstraction, alongside dedicated children's workshops and a reading session designed to introduce younger audiences to artistic composition, storytelling and regional art histories in an accessible and engaging way.

Explore the full Dubai Collection Nights 2026 schedule below:

Dubai Collection Nights 2026 Schedule (Tuesday 24 February – Sunday 8 March)                   

Launched in 2021 by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Dubai Collection is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, and runs in partnership with Art Dubai Group. The Collection is built on a unique model that gathers artwork from private collections based in Dubai and the wider region, through an independent selection process led by a committee of experts.