For Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, memory is not merely recollection but a living organism: a drumbeat echoing through generations, storing traces of experience, knowledge, and imagination. He describes this phenomenon as a ‘memory drum,’ an inner mechanism that gathers and transmits… The post Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim on Memory and its Artistic Relevance appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, exhibitions challenge the ordinary: maps without borders, symbols stripped of certainty, the human form remade, exposing the stories we inherit and those we rewrite. Using iron, clay, wood, stone, and pigment, Khozema… The post The Insider’s Brief: N°704, 6 February – 12 February 2026 appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim was born in 1962 in Khor Fakkan, on the east coast of the UAE, at a time when the town was still a small coastal settlement. As a child, he was energetic and often in trouble at… The post Mohamed Ahmed: From Khor Fakkan to Conceptual Practice appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

This interview is an excerpt from issue #75 Being Wael Shawky. In this chapter, we explore how Shawky engages myth, not as a retreat from reality, but as an alternative system of knowledge. The layered, echoing voices that surface throughout… The post Wael Shawky on Hidden Worlds appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

<p>On January 30, 2026, the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale returned for its highly anticipated third edition, transforming the industrial JAX District into a vibrant nexus of global discourse. Titled In Interludes and Transitions (في الحِلّ والترحال), the Biennale runs through May&#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://selectionsarts.com/the-third-diriyah-contemporary-art-biennale-a-world-in-procession/">The Third Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale: A World in Procession</a> appeared first on <a href="https://selectionsarts.com">SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE</a>.</p>

<p>QATAR This week, Doha becomes the gravitational centre of regional attention. Art Basel Qatar (5–7 Feb), curated by Wael Shawky, brings together 87 galleries from 31 countries in an open-format presentation across the city. Shawky described the fair as a&#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://selectionsarts.com/the-insiders-brief-n703-5-february-11-february-2026/">The Insider’s Brief: N°703, 5 February &#8211; 11 February 2026</a> appeared first on <a href="https://selectionsarts.com">SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE</a>.</p>

<p>This interview is an excerpt from issue #73 Being Manal AlDowayan. A monographic issue exploring the artist’s journey from the Aramco compound to the global stage. The issue maps the personal, social, and political landscapes that continue to inform AlDowayan’s&#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://selectionsarts.com/manal-aldowayan-on-her-artistic-formation/">Manal AlDowayan on Her Artistic Formation</a> appeared first on <a href="https://selectionsarts.com">SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE</a>.</p>

<p>Wael Shawky’s work often unfolds like a story told across borders, belief systems, and eras. Born in Alexandria in 1971, he spent much of his childhood in Mecca, where his father, an architect, had moved the family in the 1970s&#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://selectionsarts.com/wael-shawky-storytelling-across-time/">Wael Shawky: Storytelling Across Time</a> appeared first on <a href="https://selectionsarts.com">SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE</a>.</p>

<p>UNITED ARAB EMIRATES This week at Alserkal Avenue, several January openings continue across painting, installation, and photography, offering a snapshot of the district’s early-year rhythm. Gallery Isabelle extends Are You Human Enough by artist duo :mentalKLINIK (until 20 March), while&#8230;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://selectionsarts.com/the-insiders-brief-week-n3-26-january-2-february-2026/">The Insider&#8217;s Brief: N°702, 26 January &#8211; 2 February 2026</a> appeared first on <a href="https://selectionsarts.com">SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE</a>.</p>

The Bulletin bringing you the latest highlights in the art world JANUARY 2026 Ithra Cultural Days Returns to Celebrate Spain Ithra Cultural Days returns from 12 to 31 January 2026 with a programme dedicated to Spain, activating spaces across the… The post THE BULLETIN 2026 appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Manal AlDowayan’s artistic journey did not begin with childhood sketches or early declarations of vocation. It emerged gradually, shaped by lived experience, observation, and a sustained negotiation between parallel worlds. Raised in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia within the… The post Manal AlDowayan: A Defining Voice appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

To mark its 15th anniversary, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art presents two exhibitions that reflect on its institutional legacy while engaging urgently with the present. Together, Resolutions: Celebrating 15 Years of Mathaf and we refuse_d frame the museum as both… The post Mathaf Celebrates its 15th Anniversary with Two Landmark Exhibitions appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Global Center for Arabic Calligraphy, an initiative of the Saudi Ministry of Culture, has launched the second edition of the Dar Al Qalam Residency Programme, now entering its final phase until 16 January 2026 in… The post Dar Al Qalam Residency Programme Returns for Its Second Edition in Historic Jeddah appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Presented in collaboration with the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF) and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai, Resonant Histories: India and the Arab World opened at the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, CSMVS, and remains on view until 15… The post Resonant Histories: India and the Arab World appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

In That Same Hour is an exhibition unfolding across multiple buildings at the Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation and remaining on view until 31 May 2026. Emerging from a period marked by sustained violence, displacement, and erasure,… The post In That Same Hour: Tracing Loss, Solidarity, and Persistence appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Echoes of the Familiar, an exhibition examining the idea of “home” through contemporary artistic practices in Saudi Arabia is on view at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra). Curated by curator Gaida AlMogren, the exhibition brings together 28… The post Echoes of the Familiar: Saudi Artists Explore the Meaning of Home appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Mix & Match brings together a group of artists whose practices span painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, and text-based work, assembling a deliberately layered exhibition that treats the gallery as a site of visual collage. Rather than presenting discrete bodies of… The post Mix & Match: A Collaged Conversation at Galerie Tanit appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Self-portrait with a cat I don’t have marks Bady Dalloul’s first institutional solo exhibition in the United Arab Emirates. Curated by Lucas Morin, the exhibition forms the second chapter of Dalloul’s ongoing Land of Dreams series, following its presentation in Tokyo… The post Bady Dalloul and the Fragile Architectures of Everyday Life appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

At Ayyam Gallery, The Fire’s Edge brings together key bodies of work by Ali Kaaf (A.K), marking his first solo exhibition with the gallery and offering a focused entry point into a practice shaped by material tension and restraint. Working… The post Ali Kaaf on Presence, Absence, and Process appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

By the Movement of All Things, a group exhibition curated by Hamzeh Alfarahneh and featuring works by Igshaan Adams, Hamra Abbas, Diana Al-Hadid, James Webb, Bronwyn Katz, Timo Nasseri, and Moshekwa Langa. Hosted by Lawrie Shabibi until 6 January 2026,… The post By the Movement of All Things: Tracing Gesture, Memory, and Abstraction appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Etel Adnan. Poems, Novels, Essays (1966–2021), presented by the Beirut Art Film Festival (BAFF) in collaboration with the Bibliothèque Orientale of Saint Joseph University of Beirut is on view for its last week. Marking the centenary of Etel Adnan’s birth… The post Last Chance to Experience Etel Adnan’s Literary World appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Historic Jeddah has always carried the weight of passage: pilgrims, merchants, sailors, and stories moving through its coral-stone gates for centuries. On December 6, that history opened its doors in a new form. The Red Sea Museum, housed in the… The post Inside the Red Sea Museum: Jeddah’s Cultural Revival appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 was less about overarching claims of global dominance and more about how individual works demand thought. Yes, we go to Art Basel every year, and with unfocused eyes it can feel all so familiar. Yet… The post Reflections on Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

The Shape of Things to Come brings together six artists whose practices examine how creative expression registers and reshapes a world in flux. Each contributes a distinct approach to material, form, and narrative, offering perspectives that move between personal experience… The post The Shape of Things to Come: Six Artists Reimagining Futures Through Material and Form appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.

The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and the National Museum of Korea (NMK) present Islamic Art: A Journey of Splendor, a landmark exhibition introducing audiences in Seoul to one of the world’s most significant collections of Islamic art. The presentation… The post Islamic Art: A Journey of Splendor at the National Museum of Korea appeared first on SELECTIONS ARTS MAGAZINE.