Six Artists to Watch at Frieze Abu Dhabi 2026

At the heart of Frieze Abu Dhabi’s inaugural edition lies Focus, a section long dedicated to nurturing younger international galleries and experimental artistic presentations. This year, six artists emerge as compelling voices within the fair’s programming, each bringing distinctive approaches to their craft.

Tahir Karmali transforms his booth into something altogether unexpected: a construction site rendered as art, collapsing the boundary between viewer and maker. Thuy Tien Nguyen works with automated music boxes, devices that reconstruct memory through sound and mechanism, while Jawad Al Malhi treats the land itself as a living archive, painting landscapes that hold the weight of history. Dala Nasser creates rubbings using ash and pigment, these tactile works bearing witness to sites now lost. Marigold Santos layers ink drawings of shrouded dancers, building complexity through careful accumulation. Chonon Bensho draws from Shipibo-Konibo visual language to construct an immersive world that invites visitors to step inside another way of seeing.

Each artist represents a particular generosity of vision, a willingness to push beyond the conventional towards practices that challenge, engage and transform. Together they speak to the vitality of contemporary art, and to Frieze Abu Dhabi’s commitment to fostering emerging creative voices on an international stage.

The fair takes place from 19 to 22 November 2026 at Manarat Al Saadiyat, with Deutsche Bank as global lead partner.

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