I remember the first time I stepped into Manarat Al Saadiyat for Abu Dhabi Art – it felt less like an art fair and more like a discreet salon where every visitor spoke in brushstrokes and light. This November, the seventeenth edition promises to elevate that sense of intimate discovery with the unveiling of its 2025 Beyond Emerging Artists (BEA) commissions. Under the discreetly exacting eye of Issam Kourbaj – an artist whose palimpsestic works have graced both the British Museum and the Pergamon – three UAE‑based talents will reveal new creations inspired by Al Ain’s storied sands and date‑palm oases.
At the heart of BEA lies a genuine spirit of nurturing: each year, one of the world’s most discerning creative minds mentors three promising voices. For 2025, Kourbaj has selected Alla Abdunabi, Salmah Almansoori, and Maktoum Marwan Al Maktoum. Abdunabi, whose Libyan‑diaspora lens infuses found objects with spectral narratives, will conjure a site‑specific installation that listens to Al Ain’s buried histories – perhaps evoking the silent geometry of a falaj irrigation channel or the cracked glaze of a desert vessel.
Almansoori, ever attuned to the poetry of erasure, will gather the fragments of her hometown’s fading architecture – weathered date‑palm fronds, shards of turquoise tile – and recast them into abstract testimonies to loss and belonging. And Maktoum Marwan, whose world‑building practice flirts with surreal folklore, will chart new mythologies rooted in the Jebel Hafeet foothills, blending sand, memory, and the mythic language of Arab design.
Their works will debut at the fair from 19–23 November before embarking on an international tour – this year landing at Hong Kong’s Sotheby’s Maison next July, then on to London. It’s a testament to HSBC’s enduring belief in art as a global connector: from the VIP lounge to the auction block, you’ll now find BEA alongside the latest Bulgari high‑jewellery launch or a limited‑edition Rolls‑Royce Phantom unveiled at the Grand Hyatt.
My own sense of anticipation is tinged with the wit I’ve learned from fellow connoisseurs: nothing hypes luxury quite like a little intellectual irony. As one collector whispered to me last year – between sips of chilled Pipers Heidsieck – to spot an emerging artist is akin to discovering a rare vintage: you want it first, but you also savor the pleasure of knowing you were there at the beginning. Kourbaj’s mentorship ensures these three voices not only have their moment in the spotlight, but also the rigorous creative dialogue to chart truly singular paths.
Abu Dhabi Art has long outgrown the stereotype of a traditional fair. Beyond its architecturally compelling pavilions, there’s a full‑year programme of site‑specific commissions, dinners at Emirates Palace and cultural conversations that feel more like private salon soirées than public panels. Come November, you’ll find global galleries showing everything from Lee Ufan’s quiet monochromes to the latest kinetic sculptures by London’s Anish Kapoor – yet somehow the real draw remains the thrill of that first encounter with new work, fresh off the studio wall.
In my view, it’s this blend of the established and the emergent – of venerable institutions like the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi and the raw energy of young creatives – that makes the fair so magnetic. As the sun sets over Saadiyat Island and the golden dunes outside Al Ain glimmer in the distance, I’m already imagining the sculptural shadows Alla will cast, the painted echoes Salmah will revive, and the narrative realms Maktoum will conjure. Under Kourbaj’s guiding hand, each of them will offer us a new way to read the UAE’s layered past and its unstoppable forward momentum.
If you’ve ever fancied yourself an early adopter of cultural capital – someone who notes the next Frieze before the rest of London – then mark your calendar. BEA at Abu Dhabi Art isn’t merely a showcase; it’s an invitation to witness the unfolding of tomorrow’s art legends. And if you ask me, there’s no finer place to begin than here, under the refined vaults of Manarat Al Saadiyat.
