On April 18-20, Art Dubai will kick off at Madinat Jumeirah. The annual art fair, which is in its 18th edition, serves as one of the city’s biggest cultural highlights of the year; It’s where artists from all corners of the world showcase their innovative works, alongside a dynamic program of performances, installations, and talks. This year’s artist lineup is certainly more diverse and plentiful than ever. Below, we asked Art Dubai artistic director Pablo Del Val to share the ones who he is most excited about this year.
Dana Awartani
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Born in Jeddah, Dana Awartani is a Palestinian artist breathing new life into old-school techniques. Trained in traditional Islamic art but firmly rooted in the now, her work blends painting, sculpture, and performance to explore themes like healing, heritage, and what it means to preserve culture in a fast-changing world. Whether she’s using natural pigments or ancient geometry, you’ll find her work everywhere from the Venice Biennale to solo shows in Australia and the UAE. This year, Awartani is exhibiting with the Chemould gallery, one of the first exhibition spaces in India focusing on modern and contemporary art.
Rossella Biscotti
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Italian artist Rossella Biscotti is all about uncovering what’s been buried—literally and metaphorically. Working between Brussels and Rotterdam, she pieces together overlooked moments from history and turns them into thought-provoking films, sculptures, and performances. Whether it’s a prison trial transcript or a sunken island, her work zooms in on how power shapes memory. She’s shown at heavy-hitters like the Venice Biennale and Documenta 13, and her solo shows at places like WIELS and SculptureCenter have made waves.
Monira Al Qadiri
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Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri has a thing for shapeshifting. Raised in the Gulf, educated in Japan, and now based in Berlin, she reimagines oil rigs as alien lifeforms and pearl divers as futuristic icons. Her work—spanning video, sculpture, and installation—dives deep into the region’s past while fast-forwarding to its imagined futures. Think petro-culture meets pop surrealism. She’s shown everywhere from MoMA PS1 to the Venice Biennale, but her vision is unmistakably rooted in the Gulf, just seen through a lens that’s anything but traditional.
Kamran Samimi
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Kamran Samimi’s work feels like a deep breath. Raised on the Big Island of Hawai‘i and shaped by his Iranian-Norwegian roots, he creates sculptures and installations that slow time down. Using raw materials like stone, wood, and rusted metal, his pieces are less about shouting and more about quiet presence—where nature, memory, and transformation meet. With exhibitions from Honolulu to Dubai and a spot in the Sharjah Art Foundation collection, Samimi is carving out space—literally and metaphorically—for reflection.
Rodrigo Hernandez
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Mexico City-born artist Rodrigo Hernández makes art that feels like it belongs in a storybook—only cooler. Inspired by everything from ancient symbols to cartoons and modern design, he builds playful sculptures, paintings, and drawings that mess with your sense of time and place. His work has popped up everywhere from Lisbon to San Francisco, and no matter where it lands, it always sparks curiosity. Strange, simple, and quietly clever—Rodrigo’s pieces are the kind that make you stop and look twice.