Lawrie Shabibi

Lawrie Shabibi was founded in 2010 by William Lawrie, a specialist in Islamic art and formerly director of Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at Christie's, and Asmaa Al-Shabibi, formerly managing director of Art Dubai. It opened in early 2011 in Alserkal Avenue, in the warehouse district of Al Quoz, and has been a forerunner in the growth of Dubai's contemporary art scene.

The programme began with emerging artists from the Middle East and North Africa and has since widened to other regions and generations, keeping its focus on the underrepresented and on artists of the diaspora working with identity, memory and history. Alongside contemporary artists such as Larissa Sansour, Mounir Fatmi, Yazan Khalili and Hamra Abbas, the gallery stages historical presentations of pioneers including Mohamed Melehi, Mehdi Moutashar and Mona Saudi, and has placed works with the Guggenheim, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou and the British Museum.