Munira Al Sayegh

Curator; Founder, Dirwaza Curatorial Lab

Munira Al Sayegh is an independent curator and a cultural instigator based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Actively pursuing grassroots incubation, Al Sayegh is the founder of Dirwaza Curatorial Lab, Abu Dhabi’s first curatorial incubator and projects partner. She is a published author and prominent voice in the region discussing the importance of noninstitutional thinking to build regional art movements from the bottom-up. Al Sayegh curated and developed the program series for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s “The Creative Act: Performance, Process, Presence” (2017). In parallel, since 2014 she has joined and pioneered curatorial initiatives across Art Dubai, where she curated the “Residents” section in 2019 and started the “Now” series, looking at nongovernment-funded creative platforms in the region. She recently served as lead tutor and curator for Campus Art Dubai.

Her curatorial solo debut was “Bayn: the in-between(2017), the third edition of “UAE Unlimited.” Later, she curated theTalks Program” in Abu Dhabi Art. In 2020, Al Sayegh premiered “The Cup and the Saucer” commissioned by Warehouse421, where she has also led in-house public programs.

Among her contributions, she traces back to NYU Abu Dhabi’s “FIND” project (2012) and currently sits on the advisory board for the university’s art gallery. Al Sayegh is also part of the UAE Ministry of Culture Visual Arts Committee as well as Dubai Collection’s Steering and Curatorial Committee.

Contemporary Female Voices in the UAE Art Sphere

On Tuesday September 27, AGSIW and the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Washington, DC co-hosted a panel discussion featuring the curator and artists participating in the exhibition: “While the Coffee Grounds Settle: Stories from Women in the UAE.”