Frieze Abu Dhabi debut puts Lahore artists Abbas, Qureshi on show

Frieze Abu Dhabi will showcase Lahore artists Hamra Abbas and Imran Qureshi when the fair makes its debut in the UAE capital next month.

Set for Manarat Al Saadiyat, the event opens on November 19 and closes on November 22. In all, 84 galleries will take part, drawn from 64 cities in 37 countries and regions.

Frieze, a London-based platform known for its contemporary art fairs, is organising the event with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi. It marks the group’s first move into the wider West Asia, North Africa and South Asia region.

Hamra Abbas brings new work to Frieze Abu Dhabi

Abbas will unveil fresh pieces with Lawrie Shabibi, a Dubai gallery whose roster covers the Middle East and South Asia. “I am presenting a new body of works at Frieze Abu Dhabi,” she said.

Her practice spans sculpture, installation, stone inlay and photography. Through it, she often looks at identity, faith and cultural memory, drawing on historical and religious imagery.

Pakistan honoured her with the Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her services to art. She said her links with the UAE go back more than 15 years, and she now lives there on a Golden Visa.

She said audiences in the UAE had always responded warmly to her work. Her UAE debut came at the Sharjah Biennial in 2009, where she won the jury prize, and she later won the Abraaj Capital Art Prize in 2011.

Her partnership with the Dubai gallery now spans over ten years. She credited it with placing her art in private and institutional collections worldwide after her 2015 move home from the United States.

Her Gulf ties also reach Saudi Arabia, where her work sits in the collection of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, known as Ithra. In addition, she produced a large public art piece for Expo 2020 Dubai.

Gulf interest, she said, has “played a major role” in growing her international audience. She added that she is now finishing several new museum commissions in the region.

Imran Qureshi joins outdoor sculpture show

Fellow Lahore artist Qureshi will place his new sculpture, Water Bodies, on Mamsha Beach at Saadiyat Island. It belongs to Frieze Sculpture, an open-air programme of public works. That show starts on November 16 and ends on December 16.

Thaddaeus Ropac, a major international gallery, will present the piece. Qureshi also received the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, in his case for miniature painting.

He has a long record of shows across the Gulf. In 2025, he showed Between Sacred Cities (Zubaydah Trail) at the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah. The large installation traced the old pilgrimage road linking Kufa and Makkah.

In 2018, he made a work for a specific site in Al Ain as part of Abu Dhabi Art Beyond. He also took part in the Sharjah Biennial in 2011.

A growing stage for Pakistani art

Frieze Abu Dhabi takes forward the work of Abu Dhabi Art, an event with a 17-year history. Alongside gallery booths, it will offer exhibitions, commissions, sculpture and a three-day talks programme.

For Pakistani art, the selection of the pair shows how Gulf galleries and institutions are helping it find audiences worldwide.