Azza Al Qubaisi

Azza Al Qubaisi is an Emirati artist and designer, born in Abu Dhabi in 1978. She makes sculpture in mild and stainless steel, gold-plated steel and asphalt, and jewellery in gold, silver, oud, pearl and diamond. She has also used palm fronds, wood and rubber tyres.

In the early 2000s, on a visit to her family's date farm in Liwa, she began collecting palm material. Foundation (2009 and 2022) starts from the palm trunk, and the artist links it to community. Later series include Dune (2022 and 2026), Root (2023 and 2024) and Treasure (2023), part of it gold-plated. Her jewellery collections include Bareeq Al Oud (2006) and Al Joud (2017), which sets oud in 18k gold, most pieces with diamonds.

She trained in jewellery design and silversmithing at London Guildhall University, then took an MA in Cultural and Creative Industries in Abu Dhabi. Group shows include Three Generations at Sotheby's, London (2013) and the UAE National Day Exhibition at Expo Milano 2015. In 2021 she held the Cultural Foundation Art Residency in Abu Dhabi. Her earrings appeared in 500 Earrings: New Directions in Contemporary Jewellery (Lark Books, 2007). The Dubai arts organisation Tashkeel names her as the first Emirati jewellery artist. Leila Heller Gallery, which represents her, gave her Dubai solo shows in 2022 and 2026.