15 places
A free permanent collection of modern Arab art and Orientalist paintings, a short walk from the Sharjah Art Foundation buildings.
A free contemporary art space on the Al Qasba canal that also runs low-cost art workshops.
Contemporary art spread through restored coral-stone houses and courtyards in the old town, free, plus the Rain Room and the Flying Saucer nearby.
A free contemporary art museum on the creek with a research library you can sit in and a sculpture park outside.
A cluster of blue-chip commercial galleries within a few minutes' walk of each other, free to enter, and easy to reach from the metro.
Dozens of commercial galleries, project spaces and a cinema in converted warehouses, all free to walk into, in one block.
For a few weeks each winter the abandoned pearling village fills with contemporary art in its coral-stone houses.
A Sharjah Art Foundation exhibition space in a restored former ice factory on the east coast, free, with a café.
A restored mud-brick tower house shows UAE artists upstairs and Bronze Age finds in its archaeological basement.
All Manner of Experiments, a survey of the Baghdad Modern Art Group, runs until 3 January 2027, with Saturday talks in the gallery reading room.
The only private art foundation in the Saadiyat Cultural District, free, quiet and a short walk from the Louvre.
Two shows run until 10 January 2027, Juma Alhaj's light installation Revelation and the group show Archipelago of Whispers, in converted port warehouses.
Its visual arts halls show Emirati and regional artists for free, currently the Zuleya 2026 exhibition running to 15 January 2027.
A private gallery in a villa behind Al Bateen Mall, showing modern and regional work in house-sized rooms you can see in half an hour.
Three galleries host the city's biggest temporary shows, and from 19 to 22 November 2026 it holds the first Frieze Abu Dhabi.