Free activities and events in New York City


Lecture “Art Capital: Transforming Museums in the Emirates”

Published: February 7, 2026; Aithor: Julia Sonrisa

When: February 12, 2026

This talk examines how new museums in Abu Dhabi reshaped artistic practice, curation, and cultural institutions in the UAE and beyond.

The talk explores the dramatic changes that happened after the 2006 announcement of plans for a Louvre and a Guggenheim museum in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. In the decade between the museums’ announcement and the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2017, the ways artists worked changed as did the ways curators promoted their work, and the forms of arts organizations themselves shifted — taken together, the UAE case offers insight into how museum and artistic practice is shifting in the 21st century.

Speaker

Beth Derderian, Renée and Lester Crown Chair Assistant Professor in Middle East Studies and Anthropology, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University

Location: 19 Washington Square North, New York, NY 10011

Time: 5:00 pm EST

Free!

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