“No Trespassing” breaks down gallery walls in Alserkal Avenue
Inside Apollo Dubai, Tala Worrell’s layered canvases, and a festival of dates
Welcome back to Al-Monitor Dubai.
This week we are highlighting a group show opening at the Ishara Art Foundation that explores the profound effects of city streets on personal and collective life, an indoor Arabic music festival in Dubai World Trade Centre, a solo exhibition of works by Tala Worrell in Abu Dhabi, and the return of the annual Liwa Date Festival in Liwa City, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
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Happy reading,
Rebecca
P.S. Have feedback or tips on Dubai's culture scene? Send them my way at contactus@al-monitor.com.
1. Leading the week: “No Trespassing”
Khaled Esguerra. Prototype of Heritage Legacy Authentic. 2025. (Photography by Khaled Esguerra)
What do the city streets mean? Can they be sites of deconstruction and invention that are continuously influenced by the beings that pass through them? Ishara Art Foundation’s group summer exhibition, “No Trespassing,” ponders the answers to these questions. Curated by Priyanka Mehra, the exhibition brings the aesthetics and energy of the streets into the white cube gallery space. On view are the distinct practices of six UAE-based and South Asian artists who explore their relationship to the street as an artistic medium and subject. Displayed are works by Sara Alahbabi, Rami Farook, Salma Dib, Khaled Esguerra, Fatspatrol (Fathima Mohiuddin) and H11235 (Kiran Maharjan). The artworks, at once aesthetically pleasing and challenging, present a collection of personal experiences that reflect the chaotic beauty and cacophony of the streets, which often unconsciously make a profound impact on our lives.
“The participating artists have created their works through on-site interventions, a form of mark-making that mirrors the interaction of a city with its inhabitants,” states the opening press release. “By ‘tagging’ the walls and floors of a formal exhibition space, the artists claim it as their own — challenging the perception that institutionalized forms of artistic expression hold greater cultural value.”
On the far end of the gallery, Farook carves out 4 square meters of the wall to show its hidden infrastructure, while Maharjan’s large mixed-media work greets visitors at the entrance and examines modes of mark-making from a distance. In “The World Out There,” Fatspatrol presents what she calls “scavenged objects,” which are discarded street signs, posters and scraps of wood that are covered with gestural drawings that extend onto the surrounding wall. And in Alahbabi’s “For a Better Modern Something,” she displays an installation exploring Abu Dhabi’s evolving urban development. Esguerra’s work, on the other hand, reflects on efforts to conceal the chaos and disorder of urban centers, while Dib uses the walls of the gallery space, covering them with layers of lettering, fragments and other textured elements akin to walls found in Jordan, Palestine and Syria. Dib’s work recreates the gallery space into a multitude of layered thoughts and ideas from various individuals over time.
Dates: Through Aug. 30
Location: Ishara Art Foundation, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz 1, Dubai
Find more information here.
2. Word on the street: Apollo Dubai
An interior view of Apollo Dubai. (Apollo Dubai Instagram)
A new all-day, sleekly designed bistro called Apollo Dubai has just opened in the Palm Jumeirah. For those who love Rascals Deli, Za Za Slice and Dime Burger in Jumeirah, this new eatery is run by the same group, TABLE4TWO, founded by Talal Hizami. Apollo is the company’s most ambitious project to date and offers a contemporary bistro with Mediterranean and European influences, and is an ideal place for business lunches or drinks after work. It’s open daily until 1:30 a.m. Designed by Muqaddas Akkari Studio, it features rich wood textures, burgundy-colored walls, comfy plush sofas, dim lighting and panoramic views of the Palm Jumeirah. Be sure to try the succulent duck arayes, beef tartare with soy-cured egg yolk and the zesty Apollo burger with dry-aged wagyu.
Location: Palm Views West, Palm Jumeirah
Find more information here.
3. Dubai diary
Tala Worrell. Zero Crossing, 2023. (Courtesy of Tala Worrell)
• “Lost and Found” by Tala Worrell
The richly layered and vibrantly colored abstract expressionist canvases of Tala Worrell are on view in “Lost and Found,” the artist’s solo exhibition at IYAD Qanazea Gallery in Abu Dhabi. Born in New York and raised in Abu Dhabi, Worrell, who is Lebanese American, creates art that navigates the cultural landscapes of the East and the West. Her latest body of work incorporates unconventional materials in her oil paintings, including za’atar, a blend of herbs native to the Levant; chia seeds; lace; mirrors; and henna, infusing each canvas with distinct cultural elements from the East. The works on display offer an authentic exploration of the tension and beauty evoked from navigating two cultures.
Dates: Through July 19
Location: IYAD Qanazea Gallery, Abu Dhabi
Find more information here.
• Beat The Heat DXB
Escape the heat this summer and have fun while doing so during the fourth season of this Arabic music festival. Dance the night away to catchy tunes as popular artists from the region perform, including Al Mas, Tul8te, Sharmoofers, Aziz Maraka, Bader AlShuaibi and Abdulaziz Louis, among others. The festival will open with Tul8te, known for his hits “Habibi Leih,” “Qesm El Shakawy” and “Matigi A’adi Aleiki,” alongside Al Mas, known for tracks such as “3Ala Bali” and “Sadma.” There’s something for everyone, whether you love indie Arabic songs, pop, rap or electronic — this festival will make you move and forget the high temperatures outside.
Dates: Through July 13
Location: Zabeel Hall 6, Dubai World Trade Centre
Find more information here.
• Liwa Date Festival
This beloved festival returns again this summer to the heart of Al Dhafra, located in the western part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and is dedicated to the iconic date palm. A celebration of culture and community, the event includes date competitions, falconry shows, traditional souks, poetry recitals, storytelling sessions and planting workshops, among other activities.
Dates: July 14-27; 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m., free entry
Location: Al Dhafra, Liwa City, Abu Dhabi
Find more information here.
4. Book of the week: “The End of Empire in the Gulf”
This book offers a comprehensive dive into the British influence on the Arab Gulf states during the end of the British Empire. When the British Raj culminated in 1947, the Foreign Office replaced the Government of India as the department responsible for the Arabian Gulf and proceeded to manage relations with the Trucial States, now known as the United Arab Emirates, until the British withdrew in 1971 from the Gulf and Southeast Asia. This book, written by Tancred Bradshaw, an academic historian, covers the discovery of oil in Abu Dhabi during the 1950s, the origins of the UAE, the end of the British Empire and the legacy of the British in the important region of the Arab Gulf States today.
5. View from Dubai
Maitha Bin Demithan. To the Moon. 2009. Scanography. (Courtesy of Maitha bin Demithan)
This evocative and dreamy work by Emirati artist Maitha Bin Demithan portrays the artist’s niece and nephew as they seemingly drift through the air toward the moon, as the title states. Bin Demithan uses a unique technique of scanography, a method of creating digital images using a flatbed scanner. She considers the process a way to paint with light. The images she creates are stereotypically Emirati, with women and men wearing their traditional dress and the incorporation of elements and symbolism related to the local heritage.
6. By the numbers
- Over the past three years, Abu Dhabi-based ADNOC and Saudi Aramco have been the oil industry’s most active buyers, announcing over $60 billion of acquisitions to expand into chemicals, gas and lubricants, according to the Financial Times.
- However, with oil prices falling to $67 a barrel this week, analysts are predicting ongoing oversupply in the market, with both ADNOC and Aramco looking at ways to cut their spending and appetite for big acquisitions, according to the Financial Times.
- Gulf bourses ended mixed on Monday, with the United Arab Emirates continuing a rebound following Iran-Israel ceasefire and Dubai reaching a 17-year high, according to Reuters.