Art Dubai 2018 is the biggest and arguably the best yet. With galleries from all over the world and emerging talent showcased alongside international names, here are some of the highlights. 

Is Dubai a future city? Which role will cultural soft power play in achieving the strategic plan ‘Dubai 2021’? For Julius Baer, I investigated these questions with a spotlight on Dubai Opera and Art Dubai.

Jene Highstein was one of the pioneers of the post-minimalist movement and Dubai's Jean-Paul Najar Foundation is exhibiting some seminal works from his oeuvre, which investigated space and form.

Selections publishing house have commissioned a series of small 20x20cm artworks from artists across the Middle East. It is now being exhibited in a non-profit exhibition in Dubai and offers a current insight into the art scene from across the region. 

Majd Kurdieh is an emerging Syrian artist who uses simplicity and a poetic combination of words and metaphor to offer a plaintive cry to humanity to stop the suffering in his homeland.

The mixed media artist and practitioner who is also a faculty member at the university is having a solo show at the NYUAD project space. It encourages introspection and thwarts expectations.

Ever wanted to be up close and personal with the world's most expensive bit of kitsch? A restaurant in Dubai is offering diners the chance to sit with multi-million dollar artwork for art season. 

Ishara: Signs, Symbols and Shared Languages is the fourth exhibition from the UAE Unlimited platform. DIscussing language, communication and how things get lost in translation, it is the work of 10 emerging artists who certainly deserve attention.

Art Dubai's new partnership with the Misk Art Institute will manifest in several ways across the forthcoming fair, including a non-profit exhibiton of Modern art curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath.

Van Gogh's masterpiece Starry Night has been transformed into a Tibetan style carpet, hand-woven with 150 knots per sqaure inch and will be auctioned off during a silent auction as part of Dubai Art Season

A round up of just some of the cool, cultural happenings in Dubai this month.

Fashion illustration by UAE-based designers will go on show in an exhibition dedicated to this growing creative industry in Al Ain.

 Perpetual Movement explores the relationship between migration and memory in connection to the Arab world and its diaspora. As part of the Arab Women Artists Now (AWAN) Festival 2018 in London, these dialogues take on new relevance.

The winners of a competition for a sculptural installation to be placed in the grounds of the new Jameel Arts Centre when it opens later this year, has been announced.

Key works from the  Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) are in dialogue with pieces from Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation's collection in this pivotal exhibition.

Gallery Takeover is a collaboration between Lawrie Shabibi gallery in Dubai and Gallery 1957, a young gallery from Accra, Ghana. It introduces audiences to new artists and offers insight into a new geographical area. 

This is so cool. The Louvre Abu Dhabi have just made the long drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi more interesting with the world's first highway gallery

Tariq Dajani's portraits of the Arabian horse and falcon are also the reflection of a personal journey of self-discovery. The exhibition is an opportunity to enjoy the majestic creatures and a slice of Middle Eastern heritage.