Alserkal extends Art Month

Alserkal Avenue is turning its annual Art Week into a five-week Art Month, stretching Dubai’s spring art calendar from April 18 to May 18. (artnews.com) The new format opens with gallery previews across the Al Quoz district and closes during Art Dubai’s rescheduled run in mid-May. Alserkal’s final week is set for May 14 to 17, the same window Art Dubai lists for its 2026 fair at Madinat Jumeirah. (alserkal.online, artdubai.ae) Artnews reported the programme will include 16 gallery exhibitions, public art commissions, more than 100 talks, performances and events, plus grants, temporary warehouse space for collectives and a group exhibition organized with 12 galleries from across the United Arab Emirates. (artnews.com) The calendar changed after Art Dubai postponed its 20th edition from its original April slot and recast it as a “special edition” in May. The fair now says it will run from May 14 to 17, 2026, with a preview day on May 14. (artdubai.ae, artdubai.ae) That shift has pushed Dubai’s art institutions to spread activity across a longer window instead of concentrating it in one week. The National said Alserkal’s expanded programme is designed to keep exhibitions and public events moving until the fair returns. (thenationalnews.com) Alserkal Avenue already operates as a year-round art district in Dubai’s industrial Al Quoz area, with 17 galleries and regular seasonal programming. Its own website describes the avenue as home to contemporary art galleries, performing arts groups, designers and other homegrown creative businesses. (alserkal.online, alserkal.online) Art Dubai remains the city’s biggest international fair, founded in 2007 and positioned by organizers as a platform linking the Middle East with the Global South. The fair’s official materials say the 2026 edition will continue at Madinat Jumeirah despite the date change. (artdubai.ae, artdubai.ae) The longer season also gives Alserkal more room to foreground its nonprofit side. Alserkal Arts Foundation says it commissions public art, awards research grants and supports residencies and educational programmes in Dubai and the wider region. (alserkal.online, alserkal.online) By the time Art Dubai opens on May 14, Alserkal will have been programming for nearly a month. The result is less a replacement for the fair than a longer runway into it. (artdubai.ae, artnews.com)