Frieze Abu Dhabi Reveals Its Inaugural Programme

A Lebanese commission takes centre stage

The countdown to the MENA region's newest art fair is officially on. Frieze Abu Dhabi has just revealed the programme for its inaugural edition, and at its heart is a major commission by a Lebanese artist. Following the exhibitor list announced at the end of August, the organisers have now given us a proper look at what's in store when Frieze opens its doors at Manarat Al Saadiyat this November.

Did you know that Frieze Abu Dhabi replaces Abu Dhabi Art, a fair that took place in the UAE for 17 years? The move was first announced in October 2025, when Frieze partnered with the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) to bring the Frieze model to the Gulf. Abu Dhabi now joins London, New York, Los Angeles, Seoul and Chicago on the Frieze calendar, with more than 80 galleries from 36 countries and territories taking part in this first edition.

Perhaps most significantly, the inaugural Frieze Abu Dhabi Artist Award goes to Lebanese artist Dala Nasser. Born in Tyre in 1990, and now based between Beirut and London, Nasser will present Qubbat Duris, a site-specific installation that will sit in the atrium at Manarat as the centrepiece of the fair. The work takes its form from a thirteenth-century monument in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, and is made from a timber framework hung with textile paintings worked in charcoal rubbings of ruins, ash, raw clay and terracotta. In the words of the fair, it explores "how materials can carry memory across generations," a theme that will resonate with anyone who has followed Nasser's practice.

Nasser is certainly no newcomer. Her work is in the collections of Tate Modern and Qatar Museums, and she has exhibited at the Sharjah Biennial, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale in Riyadh. What's more, handing the fair's most visible commission to a Lebanese artist making a work about a Lebanese building feels like a meaningful statement for the whole region, and for a country whose heritage sites have been under such pressure.

"Frieze Abu Dhabi takes shape within a rich and evolving cultural landscape, and the programme for our first edition responds to that context," says Dyala Nusseibeh, Director of Frieze Abu Dhabi. "Spanning generations and geographies, it reflects the artistic histories, ideas and practices that connect Abu Dhabi to a wider scene."

Encouragingly, the regional presence doesn't stop there. A new section, In Dialogue, pairs an established artist with an emerging one, and for its first outing it brings together two Emirati artists: Mohammed Kazem, one of the country's most important conceptual artists, and Alia Zaal. The exhibition is curated by Dirwaza Curatorial Lab, founded by Munira Al Sayegh, with co-curators Hessa Al Nuaimi and Dania Al Tamimi.

Outdoors, Frieze Sculpture Abu Dhabi, presented by Aldar, will install four works on Mamsha Beach on Saadiyat Island from 16 November to 16 December 2026: Zeinab Alhashemi's The Nut and Bolt, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's The Form, Imran Qureshi's Water Bodies and Kamran Samimi's Voyagers (Traveling Stones). It's a treat to see Alhashemi and Ibrahim, two Emirati artists who have long worked with material and place, given such a public platform.

So what about the talks? Two sessions have been announced so far. On 19 November, Building the Global Museum brings together Michael Govan, Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Eugene Tan, Director of the National Gallery Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum, moderated by Kate Fowle of the Hearthland Foundation. On 20 November, Curating Across Knowledge Systems features Cosmin Costinas, Kelli Cole and Claudia Segura of MACBA in Barcelona.

That said, we do have our concerns about that first panel. It's a conversation about how to build a global museum, taking place a short drive from Louvre Abu Dhabi and just weeks before the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opens on 11 December, in an emirate that has spent two decades doing exactly that. Yet none of the speakers runs a museum in the region. Govan and Tan are excellent voices on the subject, and pairing Los Angeles with Singapore is already a more interesting geography than the usual London and New York. But wouldn't it have been an incredible opportunity to hear from someone who has built one here? Valerie Hillings, who opens the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi just weeks after the fair closes, or Hoor Al Qasimi, who has spent two decades shaping the Sharjah Art Foundation, would surely have plenty to say.

Of course, fairs often release their talks in stages, and it's entirely possible more sessions are on the way. Interestingly, the fair has clearly done its homework everywhere else, from Nasser to Dirwaza, so here's hoping the museum conversation catches up.

Promisingly, tickets have been priced to welcome the public: general admission is Dh36.75, with multi-day passes at Dh173.25 and discounts for visitors aged 12 to 25.

With a Lebanese commission in the atrium, two Emirati artists in dialogue and four sculptures on the beach, the first Frieze Abu Dhabi is shaping up to be a fair led by the region. We can't wait to see how Qubbat Duris fills the atrium at Manarat, and we're eager to see whether a regional voice joins the museum panel before the doors open.

Frieze Abu Dhabi will take place at Manarat Al Saadiyat from 19 to 22 November 2026, with public days from 20 to 22 November.

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