From London to Dubai: Taymour Grahne

Welcome back to Al-Monitor Dubai.

This week we are spotlighting the opening of longtime art dealer Taymour Grahne’s new space in Alserkal Avenue, popular Dubai chef Izu Ani’s new Japanese restaurant at the Four Seasons, Bady Dalloul’s first institutional exhibition at Jameel Arts Center in Dubai, and “The Shape of Things to Come,” a group show presenting artists from Africa and the African diaspora at Efie Gallery.

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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: Taymour Grahne Projects opens in Alserkal Avenue

A view of “Arranging Flowers” by Gail Spaien at Taymour Grahne Projects in Dubai. (Courtesy of Taymour Grahne)

Lebanese Finnish art dealer Taymour Grahne opened his new project space and art advisory in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue. Grahne ran a gallery in New York’s Tribeca area and in various locations in London before offering what he calls “nomadic programming,” or staging shows, in various locations and cities without a physical gallery space. He has now decided to move to Dubai during a moment of growth for the Gulf’s cultural scene and open once again a brick-and-mortar space.

“Everyone is coming to Dubai now, and it's becoming a huge hub,” Grahne tells Al-Monitor. “All my friends are here from the greater MENASA region and the Europeans are coming. If I had come four or five years ago, my artists might have been unsure of why I was coming to Dubai, but now they are so excited. People see how important the Gulf region has become and how new markets are opening in the Middle East.”

While he’s decided to open a physical space in which to show art again, Grahne is billing it as a “project space” and not an art gallery.  

Grahne explains that he wants to keep his program “experimental” and not focus on long-term representation of artists, which he says can “kill discovery.”

“Artists want to be fluid now; it’s a generational shift,” he adds. “I also like to keep [the program] fresh.” This way, he emphasizes, both the gallerist and the artists can be “free.” 

Grahne’s inaugural exhibition, “Arranging Flowers,” displays the work of American Maine-based painter Gail Spaien. His delicate colorful and highly detailed paintings show calm scenes of natural landscapes and the interiors of New England houses celebrating the beauty in the quieter moments of daily life. 

Date: Nov. 20, 2025

Location: Alserkal Avenue,

Find more information here.

2. Word on the street: KIGO

An interior view of KIGO at the Four Seasons DIFC. (Courtesy of KIGO)

If you’ve lived in Dubai for several years, you will have undoubtedly heard of British Nigerian Chef Izu Ani. The first restaurant he opened in Dubai was La Petite Maison in 2004. This was followed by GAIA, Carine Restaurant and Alaya, among others. Izu is now turning his attention to Japanese cuisine and his latest restaurant, KIGO, has opened this month at the Four Seasons DIFC. The 44-seat restaurant is built around an aji stone sushi counter and aims to create an intimate, upscale dining location with nods to Japanese design. The latest concept from Fundamental Hospitality, this eatery is led by head chef Akinori “Aki” Tanigawa and sushi head chef Daihachiro Ebata, who has just completed five years at the Sushi Wakon in Kyoto. 

“Kigo” in Japanese references a particular season, and the menu will offer dishes that are made with seasonal ingredients. This means it is likely to always change, which will keep things dynamic. At present, try the sweet kuruma prawn and eggplant sakizuke for an appetizer, the seasonal chef's speciality, or hassun featuring wagyu-shigure and gindara or black cod, and for refreshing your palate, opt for a seasonal persimmon salad made with sweet fuyu persimmons.

Location: Four Seasons DIFC

Find more information here.

3. Dubai diary

Areen Hassan’s “Weaving the Land Back” series (2025) at Maraya Art Center. Courtesy of Maraya Art Center

• SILA. “All That Is Left to You”

In Arabic, the word “sila” means connection, and this exhibition highlights Palestinian embroidery through creations that unite the past with the present, recounting personal and collective stories from Palestine. On view are contemporary artworks from 25 creatives working in diverse media, transforming the traditional tatreez technique in new creations. Emphasized through the works on show is how this technique continues to inspire artistic creations and solidarity during a time of unprecedented challenge across generations and cultures. 

The works on display reimagine tatreez as both “an act of cultural preservation and a language of resistance and persistence,” according to the opening press release.

“SILA is a tribute to Palestinian tatreez as a powerful language of resistance and persistence, connecting past and present, craft and art, tradition and modernity,” said Rula Alami, founder of the SILA exhibition series, in the opening press release. 

Participating artists include Amer Shomali, Abdel Rahman Katanani, Areen Hassan, Aya Haidar, Bokja, Cristiana de Marchi, Farah Behbehani, Hazem Harb, Katya Traboulsi, Nada Debs, naqsh collective, Nour Hage, Sama Alshaibi, Samia Halaby, Steve Sabella and Zaid Farouki, among others. 

Date: Until Jan. 5, 2026

Location: Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah

Find more information here.

• “Self-portrait with a cat I don’t have” by Bady Dalloul

Marking the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition in the United Arab Emirates, the exhibition showcases Dalloul’s autobiographical anecdotes, merging them with the stories of individuals he encounters through artworks that present fragile heroes and ordinary people who must navigate and survive in systems that are limiting. What is expressed through his various works on show — made in a variety of media, including books, matchboxes, board games and magazines — is the ability to forge captivating, creative dialogues across cultures and genres. 

Specially commissioned for the exhibition is “Age of Empires,” a new series of 50 works on paper, incorporating onmyodo, a 19th-century Japanese astrology manual, to reflect on the cycle of life and death of imperial power. Displayed on the gallery walls is “Matchboxes,” a series of dozens of minuscule drawings framed in matchboxes that provide glimpses into everyday life and political developments witnessed by the artist over the last few years in his native Syria.  

There is also a recreated apartment on show inspired by Dalloul’s live-in studio in Dubai, where multiple small works trace his nomadic life over the past five years in France, Japan and the UAE.  The show is titled “Self portrait with a cat I don’t have” after the artist’s self-portrait made in Tokyo, and it evokes Dalloul’s habit of reflecting on his own life in his work.

Date: Until Feb. 22

Location: Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai

Find more information here.

• “The Shape of Things to Come” 

This group show brings together works by prominent artists from Africa and the African diaspora, including El Anatsui, Iman Issa, Abdoulaye Konate and Yinka Shonibare among others. Curated by Japan-based American entrepreneur and curator Dexter Wimberly, founder of the new The Kyoto Retreat, the exhibition offers a dialogue between the artists’ works and the changing times of contemporary society, influenced by political upheaval, technological and cultural change, and the crisis of our environment. The show strives to emphasize art’s role for positive change amid turbulent times. 

Date: Until January 2026

Location: Efie Gallery, Alserkal Avenue

Find more information here.