Associate – Arts, Culture, and Social Trends, AGSIW
Nada Ammagui is an associate in arts, culture, and social trends at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Her interests include artistic and cultural spaces in Gulf countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, contemporary Arab art, and cultural diplomacy in the region. Previously a research associate at AGSIW, Ammagui graduated from Georgetown University with an MA in Arab studies in 2023 and New York University Abu Dhabi with a BA in Arab crossroads studies and minors in art history and Arabic in 2020.
Before joining AGSIW, Ammagui was a postgraduate research fellow in the arts and humanities at NYU Abu Dhabi conducting quantitative, geospatial research on the Sharjah Biennial (UAE). She has written articles on regional cultural matters for Global Art Daily and Fiker Institute and on digital humanities research on her own blog. Ammagui’s previous experience includes internships in the Islamic Art department at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism in the Education and Outreach department.
In Hunna Art’s new space, Bahraini multimedia artist Mashael Alsaie takes visitors on a journey through a metaphorical whirlpool, hoping to inspire a gentleness toward the environment.
Collagist and installation artist Kawthar Al Harthi uses mixed media to excavate material histories and personal memories.
Saudi artist Daniah Alsaleh uses artificial intelligence to probe historical archives and challenge the reliability of memory.
Italian artist Filippo Minelli challenges notions of authenticity in a globalized world, taking Dubai as his subject.
Guided by the theme “After Rain," Gulf presentations at the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale approach ecological destruction, communal healing, and sociocultural change with a sense of hope.
Through exhibitions, educational guides, and workshops, Kuwait-based Speculative Horizons encourages young Kuwaiti photographers to explore new narratives.
Amid the hundreds of international artists on display at the Middle East’s largest commercial art fair, “Encounters” explored the local art scene and its decades of creative exchange.
Wusum Gallery, a grassroots creative space founded by an art historian duo, aims to improve Qatar-based artists’ access to global art markets.
Saudi artist Mohammad Alfaraj’s nature-inspired installations draw on his childhood in Al-Ahsa and stories from the oasis town.
Gulf creative communities turn to their crafts to reimagine sustainability in the region.
Anonymous Saudi-born and raised artist RexChouk has captured the attention of viewers worldwide with his humorous depictions of everyday life in the kingdom.
Mahshahr-based SARAI Gallery supports emerging artists from around Iran and Southwest Asia through various curatorial initiatives and attendance at art fairs spanning the globe.
Through her multidisciplinary creative practice, Kuwaiti Ukrainian artist Amani AlThuwaini engages with themes of heritage and history, consumerism, childhood, and ritual.
As new studies emphasize the rising danger of heat exposure in Gulf states, young Bahraini curators Maryam Aljomairi and Latifa Alkhayat pose architectural solutions to air conditioning overuse and waste through the atmospheric exhibition “Sweating Assets.”
One year after the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale launched in Riyadh, the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah embraces myriad global traditions of Islamic religious practice and places the city at the center of narratives of pilgrimage, piety, migration, and movement.
Kuwaiti cyclist Abdulrahman Alkhamees hopes to make Arab countries the world’s newest cycling destinations while encouraging audiences to learn about local riders.
To Bahraini music producer Sarah Nabil, khaleeji hip hop and R&B are all about the grooves native to Arab cultural heritage and a language that is relatable.
Entrepreneur and creative Mo Abedin launched Sandstorm Comics as a dedicated comic book production studio, educational space, and community site to fill a gap in the UAE’s creative industry.
Lama Al-Oraiman, a winner of this year’s Emerging Space Leaders award, pushes for more space education in Kuwait, the development of a local space strategy, and the increased participation of women in the field.
Emirati artist Maitha Hamdan, featured in a UAE Embassy exhibition in DC situating women in the intimate space of the majlis, uses video performance to explore the more public social restrictions imposed on women.
As Qatar gears up to host the FIFA World Cup in November, Qatar Museums is ensuring that visitors get a taste of the country’s cultural scene through new public art installations.
Founded by an Emirati cultural educator, The Knot reimagines how international visitors and local residents alike can learn about the UAE’s history and traditions.
Oman is participating in the International Biennale of Arts in Venice with a multimedia group show highlighting the country’s conceptual art scene.
Mohammed Saadon Al Kuwari explains how a simple racket sport became a local favorite across Gulf countries.
Emirati poet, writer, and artist Shamma Al Bastaki combines her interests in art making and literature to promote UAE-based authors.
A Yemeni filmmaker takes an experimental approach to capturing emotion during the ongoing conflict in Yemen.
A Bahraini artist and toymaker transforms his nostalgia-driven artistic practice into NFT art during the pandemic.
As Saudi Arabia’s first biennial contemporary art exhibition, the Diriyah Biennale showcases Saudi talent and puts the country on the international arts calendar.
Students, faculty, and community members are apprehensive about a new interdisciplinary approach pitched by a collaboration between the UAE’s Zayed University and U.S. educational technology developer Minerva.
A Kuwaiti-Bahraini duo engages Gulf architects, designers, and the public in bringing the built environment to life through storytelling.
Dubai’s Expo 2020 puts young Emirati citizens and residents center stage at the Middle East’s first world exposition.
