Latest news with #RasAlKhaimahArt2025Festival
Gulf Today
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Ras Al Khaimah Art 2026 Festival unveils ‘Civilizations' as its theme
The Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival concluded on a successful note, reaffirming its position as a premier cultural and artistic platform in the region. It enjoyed an impressive turnout of over 39,000 visitors, showcasing a collection of 190 artworks by 100+ artists from 31 nationalities. An immersive programme of 21 workshops, a diverse marketplace of 40+ vendors, and the participation of seven diplomatic missions, further enhanced the experience; RAK Art celebrated art as a universal language of connection. The festival's Art Exploration Program saw deep engagement, with 2,662 students from 80 schools participating in 85 workshops over 20 days, nurturing young creative minds and striving to foster a deeper appreciation for artistic expression. Following the success of 2025, Ras Al Khaimah Art 2026 Festival (Jan. 16 – Feb. 15, 2026) has unveiled its theme, 'Civilizations'. It a tribute to the evolution of cultures and the creative legacies they leave behind. From the ancient trade routes that once connected Ras Al Khaimah to the globe, to the contemporary digital landscapes shaping artistic narratives, the 2026 Festival will explore the dynamic interplay of civilisations and their influence on art. Work of art at the festival, 2025. Through curated exhibitions, live performances, immersive installations and interactive experiences, it will present art as a living dialogue between the past, present and future, where histories merge, cultures interact, and creativity flourishes. Driven by its commitment to nurture and promote global artistic exchange, the festival has invited artists, filmmakers, and creatives from around the world to participate in its Open Call, from April 1 to May 31, 2025. The Call includes the prestigious Film Grant and Art Residency, which offers selected participants an opportunity to develop and showcase their work at the festival. Building on the outcomes of 2025, the festival has also extended an invitation to diplomatic missions worldwide, to take part in the artistic and cultural celebration. The previous edition witnessed active engagement from seven diplomatic missions, including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, United States, China, Japan, and Brazil, each contributing to a diverse and enriching exchange of artistic outlooks and perspectives. The festival is offering a platform to highlight the cultural heritage of the countries they represent, enjoining collaboration with international artists, and fostering dialogue through exhibitions, performances, and film screenings. Art installation at the festival. In line with the 2026 theme, diplomatic missions are encouraged to explore the artistic roots of their nations and showcase the ways in which their cultures have influenced global creativity. Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival, now an established event in the art calendar, continues to grow in impact and reach and it invites the global artistic community, cultural institutions and embassies, to be part of its transformative journey. 'Together, let's celebrate the artistic legacies that shape civilisations - past, present, and future,' it says. Ras Al Khaimah has a rich history, dating back some 7,000 years. There is a partly destroyed shell mound twenty-three kilometres south-west of the modern city of the emirate, near the abandoned fishing town of Jazirat al-Hamra. The site was first identified by German archaeologists in the late 1980s, when fragments of Mesopotamian pottery were found among a heap of fish bones and mollusc shells. The presence of pottery was evidence that the mound was of Neolithic origin and could be dated to the fifth or sixth millennia BCE, providing evidence that Ras Al Khaimah could trace its history back at least 7,000 years. The archaeological finds of foreign origin in Ras Al Khaimah indicates an early peak in trade in the 3rd millennium and the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE. In the 13th and 14th centuries, a prosperous port named Julfar, became one of the most prominent trading posts in the Arabian Gulf, widely known for its exquisite pearls. A picture of Liwa Oasis, from 2025 festival. With the creation of the large Islamic empires, the trade in the Umayyad and Abbasid periods reached very large volumes and opened the markets even beyond the Indian Ocean, finally reaching China as well. The large scale trade elevated Julfar, which became even more prosperous through global trade, where products from all over the Arabian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, could be found. Favoured by merchants, Ras Al Khaimah prospered for centuries as a crossroads of trade routes between Europe, India and China. Europeans used the coast as a major hub for trade in everything from pepper to pearls, while the mainland was used by the Bedouins and other tribes to transport goods overland. By the 13th and 14th centuries, Julfar (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site) had emerged as one of the most prominent trading posts in the Gulf, and an important commercial centre for pearl fishing and pottery. Ras Al Khaimah's location at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf has always been strategic to the socio-economic and cultural growth of the emirate, and the festival theme is a continuation of its global, civilisational history. Founded in 2013 under the patronage of Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, the Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival has evolved from a modest gathering of 30 emerging local artists, into the emirate's premier art and cultural showcase. Formerly known as the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival, the rebranded Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival serves as a dynamic, creative hub dedicated to nurturing local and international talent. Through grants, masterclasses, workshops and year-round events, it nurtures artistic growth and cultural dialogue.
The National
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Ras Al Khaimah channels the art of memory with month-long cultural festival
This page was produced by The National in partnership with Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival. Memory shapes who we are and how we live, but our recollections change with each retelling. That's fertile ground for artists to explore and excavate, which goes a long way to explaining why more than 1,500 submissions were sent in to the Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival. The month-long event begins on Friday, January 31, and runs until the end of February. From artworks, light installations and film screenings to expert panels, crafts workshops and restaurant pop-ups, the action takes place at Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, the region's only surviving pearling village, south of Ras Al Khaimah city and just 90km from Dubai. The festival is the largest event in the emirate's cultural calendar. A record number of visitors are expected at its 13th edition this year, following on from more than 54,000 attendees last year. Almost half of them travelled from outside Ras Al Khaimah to be inspired and entertained – from the wider UAE and internationally. A record 51 Emirati artists submitted work to exhibit at the event, an indication of how much art is shaping the nation's landscape. In total, more than 100 local and international creatives are showcasing their own meditations on the recollection of moments, places, people, and beyond – personal and collective. As Suqrat bin Bisher, Director of Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival says, the theme offers an opportunity to explore the echoes of individual and collective consciousness, unearthing the stories, traditions, and moments that shape our identities. 'This year's festival is a celebration of nostalgia and discovery, a tribute to the beauty and complexity of memory as an enduring source of creativity. Together, we honour the past, illuminate the present, and inspire the dreams of tomorrow,' he says. Memory as muse: how artists interpret the 2025 theme Curation, then, revolves around personal journeys, connections and catharsis. 'I believe that those who engage in visual creation, as in my case photographs, somehow always want to fix their memories on something material to relive them in the future. When memories become distant, images help us to keep our history, our encounters and experiences alive,' says festival guest curator Alfio Tommasini. You'll see what he means in the Garden of Self-Reflected Memories. The immersive art installation brings the past alive in a 'house of light' that mirrors the ancient architecture of Al Jazeera Al Hamra. Elsewhere, Anja Bamberg offers a grim reality check about plastic pollution with her water-themed walkthrough installation, Suspended Threads, created using discarded 2,000 plastic water bottles. 'There is too much plastic in the ocean and this excessive plastic waste is lethal for our environment, the marine life and ultimately humanity itself as we ingest microplastic through the food chain,' she says in an interview with The National. 'The central question would be: Can plastic be replaced? I hope the installation encourages people to think about alternative materials and sustainable solutions to reduce plastic consumption.' Among the Emiratis showing at the festival is aircraft engineer and artist Suaad Alshamsi. She uses oil, mixed media, acrylic and stones to highlight the role women have played in shaping the UAE. Every woman she's met has inspired her and all the memories she has gathered she's translated into her art: 'My mother, my grandmother, my friends… the new generation knows nothing about great women in the past,' she says. Elsewhere, a series of exhibitions and interactive displays in partnership with the Marinko Sudac Foundation bring new art and historical artefacts to Ras Al Khaimah. Italian artist Baldo Diodato uses imprinting techniques to document how humans interact with urban spaces, while Linda Nieuwstad from the Netherlands presents a larger-than-life flower installation as part of a Dutch exhibit on sustainability. Among the museum pieces on show, a collection of previously unseen manuscripts, sailors' journals, handwritten poetry and personal notes from Ras Al Khaimah luminaries offer a window into the emirate's history. Maps of the region that would become the UAE, created by British surveyors and hydrographers over more than 250 years, are part of an exhibit dedicated to the late author and naturalist Peter Hellyer. Four weekends of art, workshops and events Events this year span four jam-packed weekends. Beginning this Friday, here are the calendar's highlights at Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village: Edible art takes the stage Like art, the best food can be a multisensory experience. Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival blurs the lines between the two with a series of cultural dining experiences worth travelling to. Two pop-ups showcase the emirate's sustainability credentials. Antica Australis fuses rustic Italian fare with Emirati and Australian flavours – made using sustainably farmed and locally grown ingredients wherever possible. There are two seatings each Saturday, at 1pm and 7pm, and one on Sundays at 1pm. From Dh400 a person. Then there's Belly of the Beast, a one-of-a-kind culinary adventure starring chefs Anouchka Horn and Neil Swart. The menu remains a surprise until you're at the event. That's on March 1. Both events are part of a wide range of culinary experiences integral to the festival's cultural immersion. Visitors can experience innovation in dining at the event or engage with the region's food traditions, such as at the Barasti Market's Emirati offerings. At the RAK Art Food Market, where vendors from across the UAE will put their own artistic twists on classic street eats from around the world. Heritage, art and culture on tour Several tours are organised each festival weekend, offering the opportunity to savour the emirate's best. Heritage tours walk participants through Ras Al Khaimah's rich history and culture at Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village. The free weekly art tours explore exhibitions and offer the opportunity to meet with local artists, while food walks visit the best historic eateries in the emirate's Old Town. This being Ras Al Khaimah, visitors can also hear about ghosts, genies and other cultural legends as part of the event's mystical tours. Some tours need to be booked in advance on the festival website. Indoor and outdoor film screenings from the UAE and Japan Catering to the film-crazy segment of the UAE is Vox Cinema with indoor and outdoor screenings all through the Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival. The cinema operator has a curated selection that celebrates culture and storytelling. Friday screenings take place under the stars at Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, on Fridays, February 7, 14 and 21, while the Saturday sessions are at Al Hamra Mall on February 1, 15 and 22. If you're a film lover looking for a weekend escape, this one's for you. Programme highlights include two films by documentary filmmaker Ali Fuad, one of the festival's 2024 Film Grant Awardees. The resident's work explores the region's rich pearling traditions. There is also a schedule of compelling Japanese cinema. Organised in collaboration with the embassy of Japan in the UAE, they explore chess rivalries, digital scams and android-human relationships. Event details Ras Al Khaimah Art 2025 Festival begins on 31 January and runs until February 28. It takes place at Al Jazeera Al Hamra heritage village, with additional events being held around the emirate. For more details and to book events, tours or dining experiences, head to
