Frieze has announced the exhibitor list for its inaugural Abu Dhabi fair (19-22 November), the brand’s first event in West Asia.
At 84 galleries it is marginally smaller than recent editions of Abu Dhabi Art, the UAE capital’s long-standing fair that Frieze Abu Dhabi has taken over, but comprises a more international and prestigious line-up.
Several of the world’s largest global gallery brands, most of which were absent from recent editions of Abu Dhabi Art, will take part, including Gagosian, Pace Gallery, Perrotin, Thaddaeus Ropac and Victoria Miro.
In total, around 25 galleries with locations in Europe and the Americas will take stands, including Projectos Ultravioleta (Guatemala City), Richard Saltoun (London and New York), In Situ Fabienne Leclerc (Romainville) and P420 (Bologna). They are joined by five galleries based in East and Southeast Asia, including Johyun Gallery from Busan and Pearl Lam Projects from Shanghai.
Unsurprisingly, galleries from the West Asia, North Africa and South Asia (Wanasa) region—traditionally the backbone of Abu Dhabi Art—represent the bulk of the exhibitor list. Among them are Athr from Saudi Arabia, Experimenter from India, and Saleh Barakat from Lebanon. Most of the UAE’s cadre of established galleries will also be present, including Carbon 12, Lawrie Shabibi, Gallery Isabelle and Green Art Gallery, all of which are based in Dubai.
Many aspects of the inaugural Frieze Abu Dhabi represent continuity with its predecessor. Abu Dhabi Art’s longtime director Dyala Nusseibeh stays at the helm, and the selection committee includes the veteran exhibitors Asmaa Al-Shabibi, Yasmin Atassi and Amrita Jhaveri, as well as the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi curator Sandhini Poddar.
Crucially, the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT), which oversaw Abu Dhabi Art, remains a partner of the fair. The collaboration is also financial, though no details on figures have been released: Frieze is now part of Mari, the company established by Ari Emanuel after Endeavor (Frieze’s former owner) dissolved. In October 2025 Abu Dhabi’s IMI Media group took a direct stake in Mari, and Mari runs other events in the UAE in addition to the fair, such as the tennis tournament of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open. Separate to Mari and DCT, Deutsche Bank, the global lead partner for Frieze Art Fairs, is also a sponsor of the fair.
The fair will be held as scheduled in November, despite some concerns that it would be pushed back or held in a smaller version due to the Iran conflict. However Iran’s drone attacks on the UAE have largely ceased, and a spokesperson for the fair confirmed that “Frieze and DCT are committed to their vision for Frieze Abu Dhabi and are working towards opening the fair as planned”. In addition to this first Frieze fair, Abu Dhabi has a busy fourth quarter: on 11 December it will open the long-delayed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, also on Saadiyat.
Nonetheless, some Frieze adaptations are already evident in the organisation of the forthcoming fair. When the fair was fully under the umbrella of DCT it had two major objectives, one of which was to connect Abu Dhabi to other Global South art scenes, and a second—and arguably larger—to support and develop the art scene in Abu Dhabi itself. The fair held mentorship programmes for young artists and exhibitions remained at Manarat Al Saadiyat, the civic centre in which the fair will still be hosted, after the fair’s run.
This perspective appears to have shifted towards a pursuing a more global outlook. Frieze Masters Abu Dhabi has a focus on a theme of trade and intellectual exchange across the Indian Ocean, and a section called Global Futures, organised by the London-based curator Tarini Malik, which includes a number of artists more associated with a biennial than a commercial circuit, such as Ala Younis (Taymour Grahne Projects) and Mohammed Joha (Zawyeh Gallery).
Further tweaks include the fair’s longtime collectibles section being subsumed under Frieze Masters Abu Dhabi, with eight galleries selling rare books, maps, and other antiquities. These include Eqtna Rare Books (Sharjah) and Inlibris Rare Books & Manuscripts (Vienna). And its younger galleries section, formerly called Bidaya, is now Focus, with galleries such as Management from New York and Commonwealth and Council from Los Angeles. Frieze will offer bursaries for younger galleries in the Focus section of the Abu Dhabi fair, as it does with its other editions.
“The inaugural edition of Frieze Abu Dhabi begins with the depth and ambition of the UAE and wider WANASA art scene and reaffirms our commitment to fostering meaningful dialogues on the global art stage,” Kristell Chadé, the executive director of fairs at Frieze said in a statement. “Complementing Frieze’s expansive reach, the fair amplifies voices from the region in an international context, establishing a key moment of convening and exchange for galleries, artists, institutions and collectors from across the world.”
Solo presentations will be devoted to established figures from the region including Ibrahim El-Salahi, Farideh Lashai, Mounirah Mosly and Samir Rafi; internationally recognised artists including Emily Kam Kngwarray, Francesco Clemente and Sheila Hicks; and a newer generation represented by Chonon Bensho, Tahir Karmali and Marigold Santos.
A full exhibitor list can be found here.
