How Dubai is becoming an open-air gallery

For art and culture fans in the city, you don’t need a ticket to see some stunning works of art. You can find it in nearly every corner of the city.

Dubai isn’t just a global hub for business and finance; it’s also an open-air art gallery in its own right. Beyond the glittering skyscrapers and buzzing restaurants lies a city alive with creativity.

And there are big plans in place to scale up its public art vision. On April 30, Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, unveiled a Dhs1 billion Creative Sector Resilience Portfolio designed to support and strengthen the emirate’s cultural and creative industries.

Sheikha Latifa said the Creative Sector Resilience Portfolio reflects Dubai’s proactive approach to responding to evolving developments while reinforcing the emirate’s ability to position creativity as a sustainable economic driver.

The portfolio, which is built around five pillars, further builds on the plans announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, back in September 2018 when he stated that Dubai will become an open-air gallery.

Now, nearly eight years later, Dubai has accomplished that goal, thanks to the many initiatives by Dubai Culture, Brand Dubai, government entities, and the city’s creatives, with that vision now taking shape across its streets – where art is no longer confined to galleries, but woven into daily life

Here are some of the ways you can enjoy art in Dubai without the need for a ticket. 

Dedicated art zones and districts

While art is evident throughout the city, you can be fully immersed in various forms of it in art zones in the city.

This includes Alserkal Avenue, which is home to galleries, design studios, Cinema Akil, and The Junction – a performing arts space.

Dubai Design District is another neighbourhood which dedicates itself to design, fashion, art, and innovation. It was built to foster talent and support the region’s growing creative economy. It’s possibly one of What’s On favourite spaces to visit, after Alserkal Avenue.

Art festivals

Art season is a thing in Dubai, and while it usually shines a spotlight on the biggest art festivals of the year, namely Art Dubai, World Art Dubai, and Sikka Art & Design Festival, these aren’t the only cultural festivals to check out.

Around the cooler season, the city comes to life with festivals, each offering its own unique atmosphere.

In DIFC, we have the DIFC Art Nights, which take place twice a year, where visitors can enjoy paintings, sculptures, workshops, and talks under the stars.

Alserkal Avenue is always a treat to visit, but during Quoz Arts Fest and Alserkal Art Week, the neighbourhood truly comes alive, with crowds gathering to soak up its creative energy. This year, in a move to further strengthen the city’s cultural scene, Alserkal Art Week has expanded into a month-long programme celebrating the resilience of the region’s art landscape, with five weekends of exhibitions, talks, and creative happenings.

Dubai Design Week is a creative festival that brings the cool Dubai Design District to life with huge design installations you can visit under the stars and engage with. It is also home to Downtown Design, which is the city’s popular furniture and collectible design fair.

And that isn’t the end of it, because just this year, the Bluewaters Art Festival was launched, adding a splash of colour to the city’s prominent waterfront destination. It was initially set to return for its second edition in April, but an update shared that it will now take place in Q4 of 2026.

*Art festivals in Dubai 2026: New dates you need to know*

Murals and street art

‘Dubai is your canvas’, these are words spoken by the Dubai Ruler, and artists and creatives in the city took that quite seriously, moving their art away from the canvas and easel to the walls and buildings of the city.

Around Dubai, you will be treated to huge murals and street art, which make this city all the more colourful.

You can spot these works of art easily in Karama shopping complex, where the art apparently sprang to life overnight back in 2016. The old buildings, once drab and grey, now boast stunning murals and have become a highlight of the neighbourhood.

In Satwa, hidden in plain sight (though not as easy to find compared to Karama), are beautiful graffiti, stencil works, and more wall art. The murals depict Dubai’s heritage, and there are more than 10 to find. Our favourite is the one of the Founding Father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

And of course, if you’ve visited The Walk at JBR, you will spot art that was created as part of the Dubai Canvas 3D art festival. Created by talented international and national artists, the walls were painted to create cool 3D optical illusions guaranteed to make you go ‘wow’ even if you have seen them numerous times before.

More street art and murals can also be found in Al Fahidi, Al Seef, City Walk, Al Quoz and Alserkal Avenue, and Dubai Design District. Murals have even found their way to the financial district (DIFC), where artists have splattered financial and business buildings with colours, adding a bit of cheer as people go on about their day.

Sculpture Parks

Sculptures in Dubai aren’t restricted to galleries. You will find plenty of them dotted across the city. One popular spot to visit is the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park. Located adjacent to Jameel Arts Centre, it is the UAE’s first open-air art and sculpture park.

In the financial district, DIFC Sculpture Park transforms the urban landscape into an open-air gallery. You can take a walk through the creativity and discover the different structures around the iconic Gate Building.

Besides parks, a few minutes away, you can find sculptures around Downtown Dubai and near Dubai Mall. Check out the Win, Victory, Love sculpture; Love Me; Wings of Mexico and Declaration by eL Seed within minutes of each other. As a bonus, you’ll have the Burj Khalifa in the backdrop.

Set beside two of Dubai’s iconic landmarks, Union House and the Etihad Museum, you may have also spotted a large-scale installation titled ‘Union of Artists’. It was unveiled early in 2024 by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), in collaboration with Art Dubai. It showcases seven pillars which represent the seven emirates and so represents the united spirit that binds the people of the UAE. These pillars represent themes like teamwork, cooperation, equality, solidarity, and cohesion. Read more about it here.

Even Dubai’s roundabouts get the art treatment. The Nad Al Sheba roundabout proudly displays Alsarmadi – meaning ‘perpetual’, an installation by Emirati artist Latifa Saeed, the founder of Art Majlis. The structure showcases a single horse captured in eight cantering positions, coming together in a seamless, rhythmic sequence of motion. At its centre sits a vortex, formed through the horse’s power and speed — a simple concept, brought to life with striking impact by Saeed. It’s meant to mimic movement and energy – a piece that mirrors the continuous flow of viewers as they navigate the roundabout from their cars. Read more here.

Art as part of Dubai’s infrastructure

By incorporating art as part of the infrastructure of the city, Dubai is ensuring it is making art accessible to a wider audience. 

One perfect example of this is the Dubai Metro stations, many of which have been transformed into art museums showing art and cultural artefacts. Metro stations like Bur Juman, Union, and others on the Green Line showcase photos of pearl diving, bedouins and more, telling passengers a tale of the history of Dubai.

Other stations, such as Al Ghubaiba, feature traditional Emirati designs in their architecture, complementing the surrounding heritage areas. The interiors of the metro station also incorporate traditional Emirati architectural elements. 

In general, the elevated Dubai Metro stations are famous for their curved, shell-shaped roofs that represent pearl diving heritage.

The design of the Dubai Opera, if you didn’t know, is inspired by a dhow a traditional sailing vessel with one or more masts.

Everyday life

If the above isn’t ‘in your face’ enough for you, Dubai Culture and Brand Dubai in the past also teamed up with other government entities in Dubai to make art more accessible.

One example includes the Road and Transport Authority, which, in collaboration with the creative sector and artists, turned 100 parking meters across the city into colourful artworks.

If you’re heading towards old Dubai and are on Sheikh Zayed Road heading towards Sharjah, a number of Dubai Metro concrete piers between Dubai International Financial Centre and Emirates Towers station have been painted, adding a splash of colour to the busy highway. You will see astronauts, clouds, jellyfish, and more underwater scenes.

The Dubai Metro itself at times becomes a canvas for art. When the Museum of the Future opened its door, the Road and Transport Authority rolled out a Dubai Metro train completely wrapped in Arabic calligraphy to reflect the design of the futuristic museum. And in 2015,  the trains turned into giant canvases aligning with the launch of art season.

Bus users, don’t worry, you weren’t forgotten. As part of the Jumeira Project, eight artworks were created and erected next to popular bus stations stretching from Dubai Canal to Jumeira Al Naseem. Some of the art evoked nostalgia for long-time residents, while others celebrated its futuristic aspirations.

And there’s so much more to come…

There is no limit to creativity, and Dubai has its eyes set on doing much more.

With a number of megaprojects and major roadworks coming up, many of which will incorporate art in some form. This could be in the form of landscaping, sculptures, or even fountains showcasing Dubai’s heritage.

Images: Getty Images, Dubai Media Office, WAM, Dubai Culture and RTA