A dynamic programme of talks bringing together artists and art professionals, sharing insights on a diverse range of topics. Discussions will centre on themes including the rise of digital art, under researched global art histories, and emerging art practices, while also highlighting Abu Dhabi Art’s 2025 initiatives. Held during the fair’s 17th edition from 19 to 23 November 2025, the talks activated various corners of Manarat Al Saadiyat - including the Auditorium, Theatre, BMW Pavilion and HSBC Collection Space, creating lively hubs of exchange throughout the venue.

Migration is more than movement—it is a ceremony of renewal, a story of survival, and an archive of memory. This forum invites reflection on how the circulation of seeds, water, people, languages, and ideas continually shapes and reshapes our emotional and cultural landscapes.

Seeds of Memory – Migration as Ceremony, Survival, and Renewal approaches migration as a poetic and transformative force. Through dialogue and exchange, this gathering opens a space to witness how displacement, adaptation, and transformation are expressed through artistic, cultural, and ancestral practices. Rooted in lived experience, cultural endurance, and intergenerational memory, the forum invites participants to consider migration not only as passage or exile, but as an act of renewal—a continual process of creating, remembering, and connecting.

We welcome you to join artists and collectives from Abu Dhabi Art’s Gateway 2025 exhibition Seeds of Memory – Migration as Ceremony, Survival, and Renewal as they share their stories and practices, weaving them into an international discourse of connectivity and shared belonging.

Join us for a one-hour discussion led by AbdelKader Damani, Senior Curator of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, as we examine the interconnected themes of custodianship, identity, and ecological responsibility across cultures and histories. This session explores how stories of First Nations, global migration, and the environment intertwine to shape contemporary artistic practice and collective memory. It considers how custodianship is carried, inherited, and reimagined across borders and generations. Featuring three Gateway Exhibition artists whose work engages deeply with themes of belonging, displacement, and stewardship: • Natalia Papaeva • Issam Kourbaj • Tom Melick Through dialogue and shared perspectives, the artists will reflect on their personal and cultural narratives, and how art can serve as a vessel for care and renewal in times of global change.

This discussion will be billed as an opportunity to hear firsthand about Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 40 year relationship with the United Arab Emirates, their frequent visits, their wider body of work, Christo's last ten years when he toured the country extensively talking to young people about his artistic legacy, what kind of man he was and from where his and Jeanne-Claude's ideas came.

No doubt there will be anecdotes and fond memories from those who knew Christo including Vladimir, his nephew and successor, who realised the L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped 2021 for them, posthumously. The conversation will also be an opportunity to highlight the Award that Christo set up in their name, in partnership with NYUAD and ADMAF which has, for the past 14 years, championed those at the beginning of their careers as artists.

How does public art respond to its site—and shape how people feel in space? Al Mulla and Poh Sin Tan share their process in designing works that are grounded in geometry, light, and a deep sensitivity to context. Together, they explore how public artworks can transform passive space into active, contemplative environments.

Join us for an in-depth exploration of the Blue Qur’an. Through the ongoing research and conservation efforts of Zayed National Museum, new insights have emerged into the origins, artistic craftsmanship and intricate process involved in producing this manuscript. For the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, faith in the values of Islam and its teachings was a fundamental pillar and guide throughout his lifetime. At Zayed National Museum we carry forward this legacy by reflecting on how Islam remains integral to shaping Emirati heritage, traditions and the cultural landscape.

This fireside chat brings together Edward Gillman, Director of Chisenhale Gallery, and Lateefa Bin Hamoodah, Cultural Strategist and Arts Patron, to examine how independent institutions build risk-taking models, support emerging artists, and champion experimentation. The conversation explores the gallery’s journey from its foundation in a converted factory, its approach to commissioning and the pivotal ways in which it has served as a launchpad for major artists. In an era of shifting art world geographies, including new bridges between London and the Gulf, the panel will consider strategies for resilience, fundraising, and cross-regional collaboration, culminating in a vision for future partnerships with emerging art centers abroad.

This panel considers how the enduring legacy of One Thousand and One Nights continues to shape and challenge perceptions of the Orient in art. Taking Nja Mahdaoui’s contemporary calligraphic illustrations as a point of departure, the discussion explores how Arab artists are reclaiming visual and literary narratives historically filtered through a Western gaze. In dialogue with 19th-century Orientalist painting, on view at BFAF, Mahdaoui’s works assert a counterpoint: one grounded in cultural authorship, abstraction, and Arab visual modernity. The conversation will reflect on whether Orientalism remains relevant today, how its aesthetics continue to resonate, and where they are being challenged, reimagined, or reclaimed.