Alserkal Announces Alserkal Art Month Championing Collaboration and Collective Presence in UAE's arts ecosystem

Five weekends of programming to feature gallery openings, Déjà vu – a curated group show featuring 18 UAE galleries, Blank Space takeovers, grants, and public art interventions

• 16 exhibitions opening to audiences on 18 April in the Avenue’s contemporary art galleries
• Opening of “Still A Sky We Hold” — a newly commissioned iteration of Shilpa Gupta’s public art work
• Déjà vu, a curated group exhibition taking place in Concrete at Alserkal Avenue, from 25 April to 8 May
• Majlis Talks curated by Nadine Khalil and inspired by the curated group show in Concrete
• Programming led by participants of the Blank Space initiative featuring collectives working across multiple creative disciplines.
• Creative workshops featuring Dirwaza Curatorial Lab, Chafa Ghaddar, Nora Zeid, Al Reem Al Beshr
• 5 weekends of programming and public interventions throughout the month, including Slow Walks, conversations, poetry readings and performances, will feature some of the region’s most compelling cultural voices, from artists to curators, writers and filmmakers.
• Partnerships from across the UAE’s arts ecosystem, including a partnership with Art Dubai focused on moving image
• Alserkal Arts Foundation will host reading groups, performances and open studios by locally based artists and cultural practitioners, in addition to offering grants.

Dubai, UAE,14 April 2026: Alserkal has announced Alserkal Art Month, a collective expression of the resilience of the arts ecosystem in the UAE and the wider region that will run from 18 April to 18 May. Alserkal is joined by artists, cultural practitioners, and multidisciplinary collectives from across the region, as it expands its Art Week into a month-long initiative, Alserkal is joined by artists, cultural practitioners, and multidisciplinary collectives from across the region, as it expands its Art Week into a month-long initiative, providing a platform that will help sustain cultural engagement and create opportunities for dialogue, cultural enquiry and connection amongst the city’s creative community during this challenging time. The programme, which will span five weekends, will begin on 18 April as Alserkal Avenue’s contemporary art galleries preview their exhibitions as originally planned. The closing week, which will take place from 14-17 May, during Art Dubai 2026, will feature art commissions in partnership with the fair.

The month’s evolving programme is inspired by Shilpa Gupta’s work “Still They Know Not What I Dream”, which was commissioned by Alserkal Arts Foundation and supported by Ishara Art Foundation, and installed in The Yard in Alserkal Avenue, as part of Between a Beach and a Slope (2025), a series of public art commissions curated by Fatoș Ütsek. For Alserkal Art Month, the artist has created a new iteration of the work titled “Still A Sky We Hold” — a premise that underpins the entire month’s programme.  

Art Month will take place in Alserkal Avenue, offering audiences the opportunity to engage with new exhibitions in the cultural district’s conteorary art galleries, public art commissions and interventions, a collaborative commercial exhibition in Concrete, Majlis Talks, space takeovers, and workshops, alongside open studios, performances and reading groups hosted by Alserkal Arts Foundation.

Déjà Vu—a curated group exhibition featuring artists represented by 18 of the UAE’s leading contemporary art galleries—is a collective initiative between the UAE’s contemporary art galleries and Alserkal to present a commercial exhibition at the heart of its cultural district, Alserkal Avenue, during this challenging and uncertain time. The exhibition, which is curated by a three-person committee (Kevin Jones - Director of Strategy at Alserkal, Nada Raza - Director of Alserkal Arts Foundation and Zaina Zaarour - Curator & Manager of Programmes at Alserkal Avenue) in consultation with participating galleries, will open on 25 April. Inspired by the absurdity of repetitious acts, Déjà vu will examine the uncanny sense of days re-visited and re-lived and the existential strain of perpetual recurrence. The show will be complemented by a Majlis Talks programme curated by Nadine Khalil.

Alserkal Arts Foundation’s focus over the past six weeks has been on supporting artists, researchers and practitioners based in the UAE who have encountered practical challenges to continuing with practices. The Foundation’s support has manifested as studio takeovers as well as support for continued participatory programming. During Alserkal Art Month, the Foundation will host reading groups by artist Chafa Ghaddar, open studios with Alla Abdunabi and Maryam Ahli, and a performance by Asareh Ebrahimpour. The Foundation has also established a fund to help facilitate the completion of research-led projects; grants of up to AED 10,000 will be made available to practitioners within the Foundation’s network.

On 16 May, Alserkal Advisory, which consults with public and private entities on their cultural engagement policies, will bring key stakeholders and institutions across the UAE together for a round table to understand and delineate ways in which arts institutions can create impact among communities.

Multidisciplinary collectives who were selected to join the cultural district’s Blank Space initiative will also be part of Art Month. The initiative was launched at the end of March to support collaboration and public engagement amongst emerging creatives in the fields of design, craft, music and visual arts.

The month’s closing weekend programme (12-17 May) will feature “Moving”, a four-day programme of moving image works that marks the second year of the cultural district’s partnership with Art Dubai. The jointly curated programme features continuous-sequence screenings located on the screens in The Yard in Alserkal Avenue and on site at the fair in Madinat Jumeirah.

Speaking about Alserkal Art Month, Vilma Jurkute, Executive Director of Alserkal, said: “For almost 20 years, Alserkal has helped shape the region’s cultural landscape into the vibrant scene it is today and it remains committed to openness and partnership, supporting an ecosystem that continues to adapt, evolve and endure. Alserkal Art Month is a tribute to the resilience and fortitude of the UAE’s arts ecosystem, and to the people who sustain it. Rooted in shared values, this month-long programme creates space for collaboration, dialogue and exchange at a time when that feels especially important.”

Basmah El Bittar, Director of Alserkal Avenue, said: “Over the course of Alserkal Art Month, we will see 16 gallery exhibitions, 6 warehouse takeovers and a rich and diverse series of programmes brought to life in the Avenue. We are proud of the rigour and care that has gone into this programme, and of how our community has come together and continued to produce ambitious work.”

Further details about the programme for each weekend will be shared on Alserkal Avenue’s Instagram channel every Monday from 13 April till 11 May. Follow @alserkalofficial and @alserkalavenue on Instagram or visit alserkal.online for information and updates