As the cultural calendar across the Gulf region reaches its spring crescendo, May 2026 offers a dense constellation of art shows spanning photography, installation, sculpture, and historical survey. As usual, we present to you our top 10 standout exhibitions currently on display. Whether foregrounding contemporary practices or revisiting canonical figures, these shows capture a moment of vibrant dialogue between past and present, material and narrative.
1. This Bloom I Borrow by Aïda Muluneh
On view at Efie Gallery until 9 May 2026, This Bloom I Borrow presents a new body of work by Ethiopian artist Aïda Muluneh. Known for her striking visual language, Muluneh continues to examine gender, identity, and the enduring imprint of colonial histories. The exhibition brings together over ten works that intertwine photography, painting, and printmaking, resulting in layered compositions that are both visually arresting and conceptually charged.
2. We Walk on Stories by Khozema Al-Aaed
Taking place at Firetti Contemporary, We Walk on Stories offers insight into Syrian artist Khozema Al-Aaed’s ongoing Cities series. In these works, cartography transforms into a poetic system through which memory, geography, and human presence are reimagined. The exhibition will welcome all visitors until 10 May 2026.
3. Follow the Snail by Nazilya Nagimova
NIKA Project Space is hosting Follow the Snail, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Nazilya Nagimova, open until 23 May 2026. It centres on themes of migration, memory, and belonging, examined through a collection of recent works made of felt, a material historically tied to nomadic cultures of Central Asia. Both medium and metaphor in Nagimova’s practice, felt embodies resilience, tactility, and the transmission of cultural memory across generations.
4. Get Well Soon by Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola
At CARBON 12, Get Well Soon showcases new works by Nigerian-American artist Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola that incorporate durags, stretch fabrics used to shape and protect hair, into compositions inspired by classical floral still lifes. Through stitching, layering, and construction, Akinbola reinterprets painterly traditions, allowing form to emerge materially rather than illusionistically. The exhibition will end on 25 May 2026.
5. Empire of Light: Visions and Voices of Afghanistan
The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), in partnership with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, has organised Empire of Light: Visions and Voices of Afghanistan. This stunning exhibition features nearly 100 objects, from archaeological artefacts to contemporary art pieces, and allows visitors to immerse themselves in Afghanistan’s 5000-year artistic and cultural heritage. One will be able to attend the exhibition until 30 May 2026.
6. Endless Facts by Chung Seoyoung
At the Fire Station, Endless Facts surveys key works by South Korean artist Chung Seoyoung. The exhibition includes earlier pieces such as Untitled (1993) and There is Nothing Left to Add nor Take Away (2008), alongside Endless Facts (2025-2026), a new site-specific installation. Across these works, Chung investigates the “sculptural moment,” where everyday materials and industrial objects are arranged into precise, resonant configurations. The exhibition will end on 31 May 2026.
7. Hotel Aporia by Ho Tzu Nyen
Also at the Fire Station, Hotel Aporia by Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen unfolds as a multi-channel video installation that combines six projections with an immersive soundscape. The artwork reflects on history as a fluid and unstable construct, focusing on interwar and wartime Japan through a network of interconnected figures. The installation will remain on view until 31 May 2026.
8. The Inaugural Exhibition at Tatintsian Gallery
Marking the opening of Tatintsian Gallery’s permanent space in Dubai Design District (d3), this exhibition runs through 31 May 2026. It brings together a diverse group of artists associated with post-war experimentation, Pop-influenced critique, and contemporary figuration, including Ron Arad, Peter Halley, Tony Matelli, and Malcolm Morley, to name a few.
9. In the Wake of Time at DIFC Sculpture Park
Part of the fourth edition of the DIFC Sculpture Park, In the Wake of Time, organised by RARARES Gallery, continues until 31 May 2026. Set within an open-air environment, the exhibition considers time, memory, and identity within the accelerated rhythms of urban life. Featuring works by Evelyne Brader-Frank, Salim Abdullah Al Kaabi, and Natalie Katwal, it offers varied artistic approaches to temporal experience.
10. Picasso, The Figure at Louvre Abu Dhabi
Meanwhile, Picasso, The Figure, a major exhibition dedicated to the artist’s exploration of the human form, is still on view at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Gathering more than 130 works, the exhibition traces seven decades of Picasso’s career through thematic groupings, emphasising the evolution of representation over strict chronology. Organised in collaboration with the Musée National Picasso-Paris and France Muséums, the show will be open to the public until 31 May 2026.
In addition, you might be interested in visiting Flor Salina by Cveto Marsič and Of Land and Water: Works from SAF Collection.
