Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was an Emirati royal, politician, philanthropist and the founder of the United Arab Emirates. Zayed served as the governor of Eastern Region from 1946 until he succeeded Sheikh Shakhbut as the ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, and then as the first president of the United Arab Emirates while he retained his position as Abu Dhabi's ruler from 1971 until his death in 2004. He is revered in the United Arab Emirates as the Waalid al-Ummah, credited for being the principal driving force behind uniting seven emirates.
Najat Makki is an Emirati visual artist. She is a member of the Dubai Cultural Council. and one of the pioneers in Emirati contemporary art scene.
Environmental art is a range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically motivated types of works. Environmental art has evolved away from formal concerns, for example monumental earthworks using earth as a sculptural material, towards a deeper relationship to systems, processes and phenomena in relationship to social concerns. Integrated social and ecological approaches developed as an ethical, restorative stance emerged in the 1990s. Over the past ten years environmental art has become a focal point of exhibitions around the world as the social and cultural aspects of climate change come to the forefront.
The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. It is the country's largest mosque, and is the key place of worship for daily Islamic prayers. There is a smaller replica of this mosque in Surakarta, a city in Indonesia.
Neo-conceptual art describes art practices in the 1980s and particularly 1990s to date that derive from the conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. These subsequent initiatives have included the Moscow Conceptualists, United States neo-conceptualists such as Sherrie Levine and the Young British Artists, notably Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin in the United Kingdom.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is an art museum located on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It runs under an agreement between the UAE and France, signed in March 2007, that allows it to use the Louvre's name until 2037, and has been described by the Louvre as "France's largest cultural project abroad." It is approximately 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) in size, with 8,000 square metres (86,000 sq ft) of galleries, making it the largest art museum in the Arabian peninsula. Artworks from around the world are showcased at the museum, with stated intent to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western art.
Nnenna Okore is an Australian-born Nigerian artist who lives and works in Chicago at North Park University, Chicago. Her largely abstract sculptural forms are inspired by richly textured forms and colours within the natural environment. Okore's work frequently uses flotsam or discarded objects to create intricate sculptures and installations through repetitive and labor-intensive processes. She learnt some of her intricate methods, including weaving, sewing, rolling, twisting and dyeing, by watching local Nigerians perform daily domestic tasks. In her more recent works, Okore uses plant-based materials to create large bioplastic art forms and installations. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums within and outside of the United States. She has won several international awards, including a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2012. and the Australian Creative Victoria Award in 2021.
Mark Upton is an English artist who specialises in portraits of animals, particularly horses and falcons. His main media are oil paint, watercolour and pencil.
Zena Assi (1974) is a Lebanese multidisciplinary artist.
Nancy Rubins is an American sculptor and installation artist. Her sculptural works are primarily composed of blooming arrangements of large rigid objects such as televisions, small appliances, camping and construction trailers, hot water heaters, mattresses, airplane parts, rowboats, kayaks, canoes, surfboards, and other objects. Works such as Big Edge at CityCenter in Las Vegas contain over 200 boat vessels. Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Monochrome I, Built to Live Anywhere, at Home Here, at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, contains 66 used aluminum boats and rises to a height of 30 ft.
Cultural policy in Abu Dhabi, a city within the United Arab Emirates, refers to any initiative undertaken by the Emirate government aimed at achieving goals to contribute to or shape culture. Abu Dhabi's government aims to develop a cultural infrastructure that will allow it to establish itself as a reference point for culture on three levels:
Vernita Nemec, also known by the performance name Vernita N'Cognita, is a visual and performance artist, curator, and arts activist based in New York City. She earned her BFA at Ohio University in 1964 and has resided in New York City since 1965. She is also known for her soft stuffed sculpture, collages, artist's books, photographs, and installations. Nemec adopted the pseudonym "N'Cognita," a pun on incognito, as a way to honor artists who have not become well-known.
Maisoon Al Saleh is an Emirati visual artist based out of Dubai. Her artistic style is surrealism with commentary on modern and traditional Emirati culture. Her paintings often feature the skeletons of humans and animals.
Abu Dhabi Art is an art fair that takes place every November in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, featuring art gallerias, art and design foundations, as well as additional educational programming and talks.
Lynne Roberts-Goodwin is an Australian photographer, video and installation artist. As one of Australia's leading contemporary artists, she has influenced a generation of visual arts practitioners depicting nature and the landscape. Her photographic work has been described as "grounded in a deep concern for nature and humanity". She has received numerous awards, and her work is held in private and public collections nationally and internationally.
Noor Al Suwaidi is an artist and curator from the United Arab Emirates.
Myrna Ayad is a Dubai-based cultural strategist, art advisor and independent arts writer focusing on visual art and culture from the Arab world, Iran and Turkey. She was director of Art Dubai from 2016 to 2018 and prior to that, editor of Canvas magazine. In 2018, Ayad established her own consultancy focused on cultural strategy.
Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan is an Emirati royal. She is known for her philanthropic activities and arts patronage. She is the wife of Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi.
