Jameel Arts Centre offers a variety of arts-related programmes for everyone, from artists and enthusiasts to first-time visitors. From our curated exhibitions to our learning progamme and dedicated The Assembly, we are committed to offering insightful, enjoyable and rigorous programming for a wide range of local communities and global visitors.

The public programming includes talks, workshops, performances, screenings and symposia, as well as special activities for schools and families. To support artists in the production of innovative and ambitious artworks, we run a cyclical commissioning programme, Art Jameel Commissions, which is anchored at the Centre in Dubai.

Art Jameel Collection

The Art Jameel Collection is the at the heart of our programme, presenting important work by local, regional and international artists. The Collection is guided by a thematic framework that in turn informs Jameel Arts Centre’s wider exhibition programming; while we have a particular focus on supporting artists from the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa, our scope is beyond geography and responds primarily to threads of enquiry and networks of artistic and historical influence.

Curatorial themes

Jameel Art Centre’s current programming embraces the following discursive themes:

Confluence: Inspired by the UAE’s standing as an international meeting place and point of convergence, as well as Jameel Arts Centre’s waterside location on Dubai Creek, this theme explores the nature and act of cultural exchange.

Museology: As a new independent arts institution, the Centre is invested in critically investigating modes of art production and exhibition-making: this process of research and learning is collaborative and led in part by the artists we work with and collect.

The GCC: While its scope is intentionally international, Jameel Arts Centre is also rooted in its local context and the programme includes artists’ works and projects that explore experiences of living and working in the Gulf countries.