ZU students curate Common Grounds show by Dubai Collection @ Art Dubai
- 8 hours ago
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Dubai Collection, Dubai emirates’s first institutional art collection of Modern and Contemporary art launched in 2021 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is presenting a new exhibition at Art Dubai (Apr. 18 – 20, previews 16, 17). Titled Common Grounds, the show is curated by three Zayed University (ZU) students, Shamsa Al Qubaisi, Maryam Al Zaabi and Sara Al Sulaimani; they are mentored by curatorial advisors Dr. Nada Shabout and Magali Arriola.The exhibition, on view at Madinat Jumeirah, the traditional home of Art Dubai, invites visitors to engage with the Collection through a curatorial lens shaped by education and cultural dialogue.
The result of an academic collaboration, the exhibition reflects Dubai Collection’s long-term vision to serve as a platform for education, research and cultural preservation. The project also highlights the Collection’s role as both an archive and tool supporting research, creativity and the preservation of cultural narratives for the next generation. Common Grounds presents a selection of artworks from Dubai Collection made between the years 1949 and 2024, drawing on different geographic and cultural contexts, speaking to a shared human experience.
It brings together a diverse group of artists, including Talal Al Najjar, Lamya Gargash and Juma Al Hajj and welcomes reflection on the role of art in revealing connections across time, place and identity. Presenting the exhibition at Art Dubai connects Dubai’s cultural history with global audiences, underlining the Collection’s commitment to preserving and narrating the stories of the city’s diverse communities. Following a semester-long academic exploration, the exhibition was developed as part of the course Communities, Curatorial Practices, and Collections taught by Dr. Moya Goosen, College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, ZU.
As part of their final project, students used the Dubai Collection as a case study and curatorial resource, developing an exhibition concept grounded in their research. After a review process involving the Dubai Collection’s curatorial committee, one project was selected for public presentation at Art Dubai. Student curators – Shamsa Al Qubaisi, Maryam Al Zaabi and Sara Al Sulaimani – then worked under the mentorship of curatorial advisors Dr. Nada Shabout and Magalí Arriola to refine their concept, culminating in Common Grounds. Inter alia, the exhibition provides the students with a global platform to present their ideas and projects, engage with leading industry professionals, enabling audiences to encounter works from the Collection in a new, inter-generational way.
Dubai Collection is run in partnership with Art Dubai Group. It is built through a loan-based model, with artworks contributed by individual and corporate patrons who retain legal ownership, while enabling public access through exhibitions and the Dubai Collection online museum. Muna Faisal Al Gurg, Chair of the Dubai Collection Curatorial Committee and CEO of the Museums and Heritage Sector at Dubai Culture, said that “at its core, Dubai Collection is about more than preserving artworks - it is about inspiring thought, supporting talent, and shaping cultural knowledge.
“The collaboration with Zayed University represents the Collection’s hybrid role, across digital and physical, as a platform for research, experimentation and dialogue with the public. Common Grounds is a testament to what is possible when our youth are empowered with access, guidance and the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to Dubai’s cultural and academic life.” Benedetta Ghione, Executive Director of Art Dubai, said that “working with the students has been particularly rewarding; their perspectives brought new energy to the Collection and reminded us of its potential to inspire the cultural voices of tomorrow.”
Janet Bellotto, Dean College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, ZU, said: “Opportunities like the Dubai Collection are transformative for our students at Zayed University. They offer a rare and invaluable chance to move beyond the classroom and engage directly with the cultural heartbeat of the region. It links academic learning and professional experience, empowering students to envision their place within the Culture and Creative Industries. These experiences deepen their understanding of curatorial and cultural work and inspire a stronger sense of purpose, relevance and possibility in their creative journeys.”
Dr. Nada Shabout, Regents Professor of Art History and Coordinator of Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Initiative at the University of North Texas and curatorial advisor to the exhibition, said: “Through the Dubai Collection, the students were immersed in the realities of curatorial work, where research meets interpretation, and ideas take form.” Magali Arriola, Director of Museo Tamayo in Mexico City and curatorial advisor to the project, said that “the students engaged deeply with Dubai Collection, not only as a repository of artworks, but as a curatorial challenge. Their concept, Common Grounds, balances academic rigour with emotional resonance, and offers a thoughtful perspective on how art can connect people across cultures and experiences.”
Dubai Collection includes over 1,000 artworks by artists from more than 40 countries. It features 22 Emirati artists, both established and emerging, like Hassan Sharif, Abdul Qader Al Rais, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Mohammed Kazem and Sarah Almheiri. Nearly 100 female artists are also represented, with around 20 per cent of the works based outside the UAE, capturing Dubai’s international outlook and commitment to cultural exchange. The Collection strives to engage with themes connected with the historical development of the emirate and the UAE. While maintaining focus on the UAE and the region, it’s scope is international.