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Dubai Collection

Partner

Dubai Culture

Artworks in Collection

1200+

Patrons

120+

Founded in

2021

Dubai Collection is the city’s first institutional collection of modern and contemporary art. Formed through long-term loans from private patrons, the Collection is made accessible to all through its digital archive, research platform and curated exhibitions presented year-round. Rather than present a singular narrative or define a canon, the collection reflects the intricate realities of artistic practices in the region. 

BRIEF

As a rapidly-evolving global city, Dubai required a model for its institutional collection aligned with its innovative character. Dubai Collection proposes an alternative framework that challenges conventional museum structures and new ways of curating, sharing and stewarding art, while supporting deeper engagement with practices rooted to Dubai and the wider Gulf.
At its core, the Dubai Collection addresses the need to sustain and document artistic practices that may otherwise remain unseen, and offers a platform where collecting is made visible as a process shaped by context and responsibility. It is an invitation to gather, think, and connect; a space where the work of artists is not only shown but serves as a living record, open to change, complexity, and ongoing exchange.

RESPONSE

Dubai Collection provides ongoing access to works that would otherwise remain in private holdings. By anchoring works within a shared civic framework, Dubai Collection provides ongoing access to works that would otherwise remain in private holdings. 
Neither fixed nor encyclopaedic, it grows through relationships with patrons, artists, researchers, and institutions and a shared commitment to dialogue and care. It reflects the influences and patterns that shape how art is lived with and interpreted across time and place, responding to, and evolving with the city of Dubai. 

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