A Dubai digital art museum to support female artists

The Khaleeji Art Museum, the Arab Gulf region’s first dedicated online museum to promote the work of GCC artists, hopes to lead by example, disrupting gender disparity in the art world.

The digital art museum hosts exhibitions and galleries that display the works of emerging and established Arab artists. Some of their previous exhibitions have been: Ramadan in Quarantine, Khaleejis in the time of Corona, and a digital gallery that was projected on the 36-storey building of the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City (DFC).

Founded by Emirati sisters, Manar and Sharifah Al Hinai in 2020, the museum is also the first in the region to be formed, developed and curated by an all-women team.

The duo ensures that they have an equal representation of artists in their exhibitions and galleries.
Emirati artist Sumayyah Al Suwaidi notes that there are many avenues for new and upcoming female artists to share their art, and young women are much more confident about sharing their artwork with the public.

“Women bring many different perspectives,” she says. “Some talk of the culture and heritage, others about family, relationships, and friendships. And many talk about the things that are happening around us and what concerns us as human beings.”