To celebrate her appointment as guest curator of The Abraaj Group Art Prize 2014, we invited Nada Raza to compile a selection of her favorite tunes for Art Dubai Blog’s weekly mixtape. In Nada’s own words, this fairly eclectic list includes some Gems. We hope you’ll enjoy them.

For the second year, FN Designs at Al Serkal Avenue hosts Conversations 2013, an initiative helping children with special needs to voice their ideas and reflections through their art works.

Colombian writer, dancer, philosopher, art critic and Global Art Forum_7 contributor, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, shares ten classics from The Cure, to Pink Floyd– and some great mood-setting tunes to take you to the Latin America of the 1960′s and 70′s.

We decided to go for an Exotica/Tropical mix to go with all the lovely weather we’ve been having – that kind of perfect heat just before it gets unbearable. The sounds range from rare Brazilian jazz to Ghanian highlife, surf classics and obscure Japanese gems to go with that summer heat.

We invited New York-based photographer Amanda Vincelli to Art Dubai this year to capture intimate and fleeting moments during the fair. Combining visually striking aesthetics and a whimsical gaze, Vincelli shares with us the first in a series of carefully-selected images on the Art Dubai blog.

This week on the Art Dubai Blog, check out what our team listens and/or listened to in the office, at home, in the lead-up to the fair, during the last concert of Soviet rockstar Viktor Tsoi, or on-repeat driving to work in the morning.

New York-based design firm Project Projects were commissioned by Guest Curator Murtaza Vali to design the accompanying publication to the exhibition ‘extra | ordinary’, which showcased the works of the 2013 Abraaj Group Art Prize winners, Vartan Avakian, Iman Issa, Huma Mulji, Hrair Sarkissian and Rayyane Tabet.

Global Art Forum_7 contributor and author of In Ramallah, Running, Guy Mannes-Abbott shares a mix of songs invoking memories and a lifted spirit, including Gil Scott Heron, Gertrude Stein, and The Damned.

In this week’s Mixtape, we feature two playlists from Dubai-based DJs Megadon Betamax and James Locksmith, part of the DJ collective ‘Dust.’

We welcome you to the studio of Abraaj Group Art Prize 2013 winner Huma Mulji as she creates her new project, and prepares to transport it to Dubai.

2013 marks the launch of Sheikha Manal Little Artists Program, a dynamic new programme of artist-conceived workshops and tours for children and teenagers aged 3-14.

Following her first 3D video post last week, Hind Bin Demaithan now turns 2D photos to 3D.

Ibrahim Nehme, Editor-in-Chief of the new quarterly, The Outpost, examines art in the Gulf and its possible utilitarian aspect- namely in changing perceptions. Nehme uses the work of Emirati visual artist Alaa Edris as an example to highlight his idea.

A look at Abdullah Al-Mutairi’s ‘Halaga Barty’ project, an aesthetical evaluation of value and trends in the Arabian Gulf.

This week’s edition of Mixtape focuses on Global Art Forum_7 contributor Emeka Ogboh shares a list of his memory-triggering favorites.

Global Art Forum_7 contributor and Editor-at-Large of The New Inquiry, Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, shares her ongoing project on the human face.

Hind Bin Demaithan revisits her past through the medium of negatives and shares the results via animation and analgyph 3D effects.

Writer and Global Art Forum_7 contributor Tolu Ogunlesi shares his definition of Lagos in ten links ranging from books to music to poetry and essays.

We share the concept behind Art Dubai 2013 Projects’ Mobile Art Gallery (M.A.G) as well as a sneak peek of some of the featured works.

Fari Bradley, presenter and producer of Six Pillars to Persia and Art Dubai 2013 Projects Artist, shares a list of songs for the office or the weekend around the corner.  

Hind Bin Demaithan sends a video trial she’s been experimenting with and pays her respects to the memory of Farideh Lashai.

Paying tribute to Farideh Lashai (1944-2013)

The Art Dubai Blog and Agenda Culturel invite you to discover more about the only specialized publication and website in cultural information and promotion in Lebanon.

In this week’s edition of Mixtape, Marker 2013 curator Bisi Silva crosses hemispheres with a delightful assortment of tunes ranging from old to new.

Hind Bin Demaithan’s week-long experimenting in the Video Graphics room at CalArts allowed her to time-travel to an era where Egyptian cinema was golden-years-old, and video editing was astonishing and basic.

Fari Bradley, producer and presenter of Six Pillars To Persia, creates a site-specific radio station for Art Dubai 2013 to be aired around the globe via live web stream.

For the third segment of our series focusing on the winners of the Abraaj Group Art Prize in the lead up to the unveiling of their new artworks in an exhibition at Art Dubai next month, we are pleased to share a snapshot into the travels of winner Hrair Sarkissian.

In her third virtual post card from California, artist Hind Bin Demaithan reflects on the recent passing of Thamer Saeed Salman.

In this segment of our Mixtape series, we feature MuHKA curator and Art Dubai friend Nav Haq.

T Emirates and the Art Dubai Blog invite you to interpret the classic T logo.

Art Dubai 2013 Commissioned Artist Hind Demaithan’s second virtual post card from California to Dubai. This time showing her favorite place at California Institute of the Arts.

Art Dubai 2013 Commissioned Artist Ehsan Ul Haq opens the door to his world and gives us a peak into the initial phases that comprise his project for the seventh edition of Art Dubai.

Over 700 people attended the recent opening of Art Dubai 2013 participating gallery Ayyam Gallery’s London outpost. Art Dubai Blog shares the before and after.

Here is the second segment in a series focusing on winners of the Abraaj Group Art Prize in the lead up to the unveiling of their new artworks at Art Dubai in March 2013. To get you ready for the weekend, Vartan Avakian presents his Mix Tape.

Hind Bin Demaithan presents a weekly video blog reflecting her current practice and the experience of being away from her hometown of Dubai. Bin Demaithan will be made present at the fair through cyber interaction.

Campus Art Dubai’s first public seminar on the Kochi-Muziris Biennale is tonight at The Pavilion Downtown Dubai and features the biennale’s co-curator Riyas Komu, advisors Robert Kluijver and Rami Farook, and artist UBIK.

In the lead up to Art Dubai 2013, long-term patron of the arts Princess Alia Al-Senussi reflects on what it means to be in the art world.

The opening date of ‘Emra’adornment,’ the solo exhibition of established British artist Patricia Millns at Tashkeel, has been extended. So for those of you who thought they’ve missed it, there is still time to catch a glimpse into the world of delicate femininity that Patricia Millns created. In this post, we feature a one-on-one between the founder and director of Tashkeel, Lateefa bint Maktoum, and Patricia Millns

In this post we feature an excerpt from WTD magazine’s issue 02 The Resurrection exploring how old buildings and spaces in Dubai can be revived simply by injecting them with new programs.

To celebrate the opening of India’s first contemporary art biennial, we take you on a photo-tour of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, hoping to give you a sense of beautiful Kochi and its magical surroundings, and sharing some of the works that moved us most.

Join the Art Dubai team this Saturday, December 22 from 4-6pm at The Archive, Safa Park to hear about Art Dubai and Art Week 2013 and how you can get involved.

This week we take you on a tour of artist Rayyane Tabet’s new studio in Beirut. This is the first segment in a new series focusing on the 2013 winners of the Abraaj Art Prize in the lead up to the unveiling of their new artworks at Art Dubai in March 2013. Rayyane Tabet will be in Dubai on Wednesday December 19, 2012 for a panel discussion with fellow artist winner Vartan Avakian and curator Murtaza Vali, at the Archive, Safa Park. We hope to see all of you there.

New York-based writer Marisa Mazria Katz presents Creative Time Reports, an online initiative launched by New York public art agency Creative Time. This dynamic multimedia website is devoted to artists’ analysis of pressing issues around the world, providing unique perspectives on current events, and casting artists as news reporters and commentators in an aim to encourage a more engaged and informed public.

November saw the launch of ‘Spectral Imprints’ the 2012 Abraaj Capital Art Prize (ACAP) book, featuring interviews between curator Nat Muller and ACAP 2012 artists: Taysir Batniji, Khalil Joreige & Joana Hadjithomas, Wael Shawky, Risham Syed and Raed Yassin. With this in mind we turned to Nat Muller for some Brit punk, Lebanese indie pop, Bollywood, alternative rock, Turkish psychedelics and Kate Bush magic…

We’re excited about the launch of The Archive in Safa Park this week, the latest project by the team behind Brownbook. A converted facilities building located in one of Dubai’s oldest parks, The Archive will host a contemporary Middle Eastern library as well as various events aimed at promoting art, culture and sport!

To mark the launch of the new book ‘IRAN:RPM Vol. 1′, a compilation of Iranian vinyl covers created between 1965 and 1974, author Ali Bakhtiari gives us a taste of nightingales, lovers’ duets and delicate Afghani songsters in his Mix Tape, packed with Middle Eastern Pop.

A new magazine called We Are Here has just been launched. This lo-fi travel magazine that focuses on a different city or district each issue (with three per year) and the first one is about Dubai. It features photography, essays, satire, poetry, reportage and profiles, and tackles the city in a new way. Editor Conor Purcell invites us to look at the independent magazine scene in the region, with a few new titles cropping up, and the rise in technology, enabling magazines to be produced for less.

Photographer and blogger extraordinaire Hind Mezaina recently posted her recommended picks on the various activities taking place next Saturday (Nov 10) at QUOZ, a new annual art initiative pulling together 30 art and design spaces for a day of exhibition openings and a range of free programming. We’ve re-posted her article here. See you there.

Art expert and historian Emily Doherty fondly reminisces on renowned artist Christo’s philosophy and relationship to the United Arab Emirates in tandem with the recent launch of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

To coincide with the opening of his new interactive installation ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ at The Pavilion, Dubai, on Thursday September 27, we’ve invited Dubai-based artist UBIK to compile a list of his favorite tunes for us.

We loved Chris Lord’s riposte to all those who say there’s no culture in the UAE; ‘Art fairs double as forums, warehouses host film nights and lectures by visiting anthropologists. Fish market porters meet weekly for traditional wrestling on the waterfront of Dubai Creek, and I’m still amazed by the number of hardworking folk who give up weekends and evenings to invite the general public into their workplace to watch a bunch of old films, or talk ideas and drink tea – usually without charge.’

Mix Tape is a new section on the Art Dubai blog, featuring Art Dubai friends’ and contributors’ favorite tunes. Every month, we invite a guest to create an exclusive mix tape for Art Dubai, pulling together a selection of tracks they listen too while working, walking, relaxing, or dancing. We launch the series with Delfina Foundation Director Aaron Cezar.

As we come to the end of Ramadan, we close the series with photographer Katrin Greiling’s striking images from a charity Iftar in Dubai, in 2009. A massive thank you to everyone who contributed to ‘Posting Ramadan’ and a very Happy Eid to all!

In his contribution to Posting Ramadan, artist and 2012 dXb store participant, Khalid Mezaina, reflects on the importance of good intentions.

This Ramadan, Alia Al Sabi delves into the backstreets of the UAE to get her dose of karak and pay tribute to the master tea-makers who hold the secrets of this concoction.

Artist and 2011 Forum Fellow Salauddin Ahmed invites fellow architects/photographers to submit images evoking Ramadan in Dhaka, “a place, or more so a place-left-to-yet-become”.

Writer and artist Naeem Mohaiemen comments on Ramadan social order and public structures, looking at public displays of fasting, restaurants swathed in curtains and doubling one’s “sowab”.

Currently in Korea preparing for the Gwangju Biennale, Art Dubai’s MARKER 2012 curator, Yogyakarta-born Alia Swastika, reminisces about Ramadan in Indonesia; from her mother’s homemade ‘Tempe’ to 10 hour-long ‘Mudiks’ leading to her childhood, her family and grandma’s kitchen.

Art Dubai’s Zain Masud gives us a taste of the upcoming Beijing Design Week (BJDW) in today’s ‘Diary from China’. Taking place this September, BJDW sees the addition of a new cultural zone, CCD-The Community, initiated by designer Naihan Li and curator Beatrice Leanza and designed by Ai Weiwei.

Emirati artist, graphic designer and, until recently, our wonderful Art Dubai intern, Sara Al Haddad shares her own take on a Khanfaroosh recipe, a traditional sweet from the Gulf served during the month of Ramadan.

Doha-based artist Khalid Albaih sends us his contribution to the ‘Posting Ramadan’ series in the form of an illustration.

Half German, half Saudi, former Art Dubai intern, Farah Al Sharief reflects on her Ramadan experience in both of her native countries – from full working days and 9:20pm sunsets to cool laban and Ramadan TV shows.

Writer and researcher Mariam Wissam Al Dabbagh works and resides between Dubai and London. In her contribution to ‘Posting Ramadan’, Mariam reflects on the month of Ramadan in the city of London.

For his contribution to ‘Posting Ramadan’, Yazan Kopty asked four friends to remember Ramadan with him, and wove the voices together into collections of memories.

Today’s ‘Posting Ramadan’ comes all the way from Marrakech, Morocco. It is a contribution by Julie Klear Essakalli, co-founder of Zid Zid Kids, who reflects on dates through a photographic series and a short text. Zid Zid Kids participated in Art Dubai Projects 2012 through a unique artist’s project for children in collaboration with artist Yto Barrada.

For our ‘Posting Ramadan’ series, Dubai based designer and dXb Store Manager Tima Ouzden shares her photographs of ‘Special Ostadi’, documenting the closure of the old Ostadi and the opening of the new one. Ostadi is a long-established Iranian restaurant and a Dubai institution.

Artist Setu Legi writes about Ramadan’s daily life in Indonesia and shares photographs taken from the surroundings of his house in Jogjakarta for ‘Posting Ramadan’ series. Setu was commissioned to produce a site-specific work for Art Dubai Projects in 2012.

This ‘Posting Ramadan’ contribution comes from Dubai’s PinkTaxiBlogger, a profuse writer whose reflections on art, fitness, family, politics and literature ‘hit her like bricks as she chauffeurs her children from place to place…’

This Tuesday’s ‘Diary from China’ follows Art Dubai’s Zain Masud as she explores Nuijie Mosque, the oldest in the capital. Don’t miss Zain’s own Ramadan glossary at the end.

‘RamadanTent’ is this week’s first entry to ‘Posting Ramadan’ series. The photograph, accompanied by a short text, was taken in Dubai by Dubai-based Swedish photographer Katarina Premfors.

As a third contribution to ‘Posting Ramadan’, we re-post journalist, editor and analyst Daliah Merzaban’s take on fasting borrowed her personal blog ‘Dew Point’.

Our second ‘Posting Ramadan’ contribution is a visual perception of the holy month. It was created by Zena Adhami, a graphic artist dividing her time between San Francisco and Dubai.

Today we bring you the second post frmo the ‘Diary from China’ series by Art Dubai’s Zain Masud, who is based in China this summer for meetings with galleries, collectors, curators and artists, and to help further links between the UAE and China. Every Tuesday, she sends us text and photos describing her recent experiences. ‘Diary from China: Yuan Space’ takes in a visit to Beijing-based not-for-profit Yuan Space founded by renowned artist Zeng Fan Zhi. Watch this space next Tuesday for more news from China.

‘Say a Little Prayer’ marks the first entry to ‘Posting Ramadan’, a series of contributions from Art Dubai friends and family reflecting their experience of the holy month. ‘Say a Little Prayer’ is a collection of photographs taken around Dubai by UAE-based blogger and photographer Hind Mezaina, a long-time Art Dubai friend and collaborator, and a Global Art Forum_6 speaker.

To mark the holy month of Ramadan, we’ve invited Art Dubai’s friends and family to send us a contribution that reflects their experiences, the month’s personal, familial nature, and also its universality.

Art Dubai’s Zain Masud is based in China this summer, for meetings with galleries, collectors, curators and artists, and to help further links between the UAE and the rich, complex art scenes of Beijing and Shanghai. Every Tuesday, she sends us text and photos describing her journey and experiences.

Curator of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize, Laura Egerton, reviews the latest group show ‘Alienation’ drawn from the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah.

This week we post a selected series of photographs taken by industrial designer, interior architect and photographer Katrin Greiling at Art Dubai 2012. Katrin lived in the UAE between 2007 and 2010, where she worked at Traffic, among other places, and was an active member of the art and design community. Now based in Stockholm, Katrin revisited Art Dubai in 2012: these are her favourite shots of the fair.

‘A Most Precarious Relationship: Artists Audiences and Interactive Art in the Emirates’, curated by Isabella Ellaheh Hughes, opened earlier this June at Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah. This exhibit, which features four UAE-based young emerging artists – Ahmed Bouholaigah, Amna Al Zaabi, Maitha Al Jassim and UBIK – takes an interest in interactive installations that encourage audience engagement and participation.

To mark the end of Artnet magazine, we repost painter, writer and blogger extraordinaire Joy Garnett’s take on writing for the pioneering magazine and its sad demise…

As ‘Chkoun Ahna’ at the National Museum of Carthage comes to an end, we asked curator Timo Kaabi-Linke to reflect on his curatorial premise and the – sometimes heated – reaction to the show. Nowadays, he says, Tunisian artists and curators “are fighting for the rights of their profession”…

Artist and writer Sara Naim talks to Dubai-based Iranian artists Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian about their recent show ‘I Put It There, You Name It.’ and release of a book of the same name at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde.

/A.R.I.A/ is a new Algiers-based artist-in-residence programme conceived by artist Zineb Sedira. Stephanie Sykes had the opportunity to learn more about this nascent programme, and how debut residency participant Nicene Kossentini is approaching her time in Algeria.

Critic Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, who directed the Forum Fellows programme at Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum_6, recently wrote about “curating in a post-curatorial world” for Red Hook. Kaelen’s article has particular relevance to debates raised via the Global Art Forum and Art Dubai’s educational programming, so we’ve reposted it here.

Artist group LuckyPDF bring us ‘School of Global Art’ as part of our series of PowerPointsTM by artists commissioned by Global Art Forum_6

The second in our series of PowerPointsTM by artists commissioned by Global Art Forum_6. ‘Jemsheed’ with music by Ayshay and PowerPoint by Kari Altmann

The first in our series of PowerPointsTM by artists. ‘Universal Time: An Executive Summary’ by Alexander Provan (Triple Canopy), commissioned by Global Art Forum_6.

As part of the commissioned projects for Global Art Forum_6, editor and art historian Victoria Camblin was asked to curate a special series of PowerPoints created by contemporary artists, writers and creative entities.

Fixations is a series of conversations and profiles that offers artists a platform to muse upon their current preoccupations. Here Stephanie Sykes talk to Dubai-based artist Ubik about how the fluctuating nature of his residency visa informs his practice.

We talk to Matthew Jones of bespoke framers Jon Jones for their insights into framing, conservation and exhibitions that have set the standard in their industry.

In the spirit of her mentor Ryan McGinley, the images Sara Naim presents in her limited edition zine, Jumper, Gida, Dancers, Girl in Dress, are infused with the youthful energy of summer.

Mariam Wissam discusses the Middle East News Archive – her blog project for Global Art Forum_6 at Art Dubai.

Douglas Coupland takes time out from Global Art Forum_6 at Art Dubai to talk about nostalgia, Hans Ulrich Obrist and the internet.

On a magic night, just before the beginning of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum_6, Shumon Basar led a small, excited group to Amin Maalouf’s hotel where the great author responded to questions by Wael Shawky, Hans Ulrich Obrist and GAF curator Shumon Basar.

Wael Shawky takes some time out from the Abraaj Capital Art Prize and Global Art Forum_6 at Art Dubai to speak to us about his work.

Art Dubai’s 2011 Forum Fellow Jyoti Dhar recently finished her City as Studio II residency in Delhi.

Navigating an art fair is a little like a Pac Man game: be prepared to consume and be consumed. Be careful which way you turn so you don’t get jammed in social chit-chat and lots of air kissing – the clock is always ticking.

There is talk of spaceships, robots and laser beams in the night sky. Check out the 50′s sci-fi inspired project by Yto Barrada and Zid Zid Kids called Morocco to the Moon.

He’s already a superstar in his native Philippines, not just for The Living Room or Livin’ La Vida Imelda; his disco-infused, Imelda Marcos-inspired tour, but also for his ongoing sociopolitical activism in Filipino society.

Aya Atoui is a Dubai based artist whose work is rooted in the ephemeral and often references her mother or is otherwise inspired by her. For An Art Blog’s Fixations, Atoui has interviewed her mother.

What if the internet came first and was the foundation on which print design was based? The creators of The State asked themselves that question in preparing their new project.

We rejuvenated our branding at Art Dubai this year with a campaign creating stronger links with its geography and breadth of programming.

Welcome to the Art Dubai Blog. Every March, Dubai and the Gulf become the destination for the art world.

Director of this year’s forum Shumon Basar contributes a piece to the recent Language Issue of TANK magazine about this year’s Global Art Forum theme The Medium of the Media.

Influential anime-inspired artist Takashi Murakami’s exhibition ‘Ego’ opened last week at the Qatar Museums Authority’s cavernous Al Riwaq exhibition space.

Amir H. Fallah is an artist and founder of Beautiful/Decay magazine. His practice — marked by its bold, ardent palette — ranges from handmade fort installations to mixed-media collages and large-scale paintings that maintain his affinity for collage.

Meet the jury of regional experts we’ve hand picked to judge the projects we’ll be presenting at DXB Store at Art Dubai.

Artist and author Zena el Khalil will discover on February 17, 2012 if she is the winner of the $25, 000 Sovereign Asian Art Prize (SAAP) in Hong Kong.