Welcome to The Culture Edit, your guide to the most captivating art and cultural exhibitions across the Middle East. In a region teeming with creative energy and visionary talent, it can be overwhelming to keep track of what’s worth your time. That’s where we come in. Each month, we sift through the noise to bring you a curated selection of exhibitions that spark conversation, provoke thought, and celebrate the region’s dynamic cultural pulse.
From gallery openings and immersive installations to regional festivals and museum must-sees, discover the most compelling cultural happenings of the month to bookmark below.
Without further ado, let’s get into The Culture Edit.
The Only Way Out Is Through: The Twentieth Line
Alserkal Avenue, Dubai | 18 September – 7 November 2025
At Alserkal Avenue, The Only Way Out Is Through: The Twentieth Line unfolds like a layered chorus, curated by Shumon Basar. It isn’t a single story but many, fractured, overlapping, resisting neat closure. Alongside works like Arranging Flowers, The Narrative of Decline, and I’m Never Coming Back, the exhibition becomes a restless mirror of our times. Voices collide and drift apart, each piece insisting on its own way of being seen. Rather than answers, the show offers an atmosphere that’s charged, uneasy and alive. Here, meaning isn’t delivered whole; it’s pieced together slowly, in fragments, as you linger.
Inside Out ‘25 by Elias Izoli
Ayyam Gallery, Warehouse 1, Dubai | 18 September – 6 November 2025
After years away from the canvas, Elias Izoli returns with Inside Out ’25, a haunting circus of paintings where performers teeter between joy and survival. Tightrope walkers, clowns, and magicians become metaphors for the precarious balancing act of Syrian life, each portrait carrying fragments of resilience and illusion. His colours fracture and shimmer, drawing us in with playful spectacle only to reveal unease beneath. At times, the clown reappears like the joker in a deck of cards, both comic and ominous, unmasking the fragility of hope. Izoli doesn’t just stage the show, he invites us inside its walls, where survival and performance blur.
Between Forms & The Whisper of Dreams
Prince Faisal bin Fahd Art Gallery, Riyadh | Until 25 September 2025
The Prince Faisal bin Fahd Art Gallery spotlights two Saudi visionaries whose works pulse with curiosity and cultural resonance. Dr. Mohammed Al-Rusais shapes canvases into rhythmic explorations of form and memory, where modernist experimentation meets intimate storytelling. Khalil Hassan Khalil, in contrast, invites viewers into dreamlike realms, where symbolism and poetry merge into visual reveries. Across eighty-five works, the exhibitions trace the evolving language of Saudi art, a dialogue between personal narrative and national identity, between bold experimentation and quiet reflection. Together, they offer more than retrospectives; they are a meditation on continuity, innovation, and the threads that tie generations of Saudi artists to the pulse of their time.
Progress and Procession Museum
Katara Cultural Village, Doha | Until 13 September 2025
Progress and Procession Museum unveils the multifaceted journey of Khawla Mohammed Abdulaziz Al Mannai, a Qatari artist whose practice weaves textiles, painting, and Arabic calligraphy into vibrant narratives. Across eighty works, visitors traverse her evolution from early studies to international exhibitions, witnessing realist, abstract, and impressionist styles infused with memories, cultural heritage, and global influences. Al Mannai’s art bridges personal experience with collective history, exploring local traditions like Sadu weaving while engaging in cross-cultural dialogues. The exhibition is a testament to her enduring curiosity, technical mastery, and the power of art to connect past, present, and imagination.
Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire
Louvre, Abu Dhabi | 17 September 2025 – 25 January 2026
Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire opens a window into a dynasty that transformed Cairo into a luminous hub of art, knowledge, and imagination. From glittering metalwork to delicate ceramics, from intricate manuscripts to flowing calligraphy, over 250 works trace the dynasty’s mastery of form, pattern, and vision. The exhibition unfolds like a journey through time, where innovation meets tradition and everyday objects become portals of cultural memory. Through immersive displays and hands-on workshops, visitors experience their enduring dialogue with beauty, intellect, and creativity, a world where art was both a craft and a cosmos.
New Western Views
Lawrie Shabibi, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai | 19 September – 5 November 2025
New Western Views presents Marwan Bassiouni’s exploration of identity, migration, and cultural dialogue through painting and sculpture. Drawing inspiration from Western imagery and the journeys of displacement, his works challenge fixed narratives and invite reflection on the fluidity of belonging. Blending intimate memory with broader societal observations, Bassiouni crafts a visual language that is both personal and universal. Across the gallery, forms and textures converse, prompting viewers to reconsider assumptions about culture, place, and perspective. This exhibition is a meditation on movement, memory, and the evolving intersections of self and society.
For more stories of art and culture, visit our dedicated pages and stay across our Instagram.
