5 days ago
How MENA's cultural ambitions are redefining global gravity
There is something quietly radical happening across the MENA region, not loud, not performative … rather, deliberate, layered, and unmissable for those who are paying attention. For decades, the Middle East has been viewed as a place of rapid transformation, but rarely as the origin point of global cultural influence. That narrative is shifting and fast.
What we're witnessing now is more than a wave of development. It's a recalibration of global cultural gravity. The region once seen as pure-play importing creativity, is today shaping new futures through global partnerships.
In the past 18 months alone, we've seen announcements and activations that would've seemed improbable a decade ago: Art Basel landing in Qatar, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in the capital, teamLab Inc. opening in both Jeddah and Saadiyat, Zegna hosting Villa Zegna in Dubai. Disney the newest entry in the heart of Abu dhabi with Miral Destinations. What we saw a few years ago as a strategic play with Formula 1 and the region making a move for 4 key races, we now see a similar yet catalytic shift happening across cultural platforms.
But this is not just about quantity. This is about long-term cultural authorship. As someone who works at the intersection of culture and strategy, I see the through line: some would call it event making, but to me it's identity-building.
The cultural capital: From access to soft power
It's easy to reduce these headlines to checklists. A museum here. A fashion activation there. A film festival and some regional names.
But behind these launches is a deeper more tectonic strategy: Saadiyat Island has a deep civic manifesto and how it aims for long-term value generation for the capital. teamLab Phenomena known for their global exhibits, takes to softer architecture and deeper storytelling all rooted in local landscapes. Villa Zegna in Dubai, automatically legitimising the city as a stage for global fashion brands to rethink how and where they show up.
This isn't the first time that MENA has hosted major events or brought in cultural cachet, but what's different now is the tone and the intentionality. Previously the region leaned in heavily on spectacle, the message was 'bring the world here'. Now there's a subtle pivot, 'Lets co-create for the world, from here'.
Arab-futurism: The aesthetic of the cultural shift
We are not playing cultural catch-up. It's a new visual and philosophical vocabulary emerging from the region. What we're seeing is unabridged, unapologetic Arab-futurism in its purest form.
Threading heritage with hyper speed innovation, It lives in the architecture of the Guggenheim, the digital surrealism of teamLab, the sonic language of MDLBEAST, and the artistic experimentation of Alula's desert exhibitions. It is speculative. It is cinematic. It is rooted in history yet never nostalgic. Arab-futurism appears as a look, but in essence it is a lense.
A confident creative narrative that emerges from a deep place of self awareness and collective imagination rising in the region. Its a viral aesthetic, it's on your feed, its Saint Levant meets Huda Beauty for Kalamentina. Its showing up in how cities are being built, how platforms are being designed, and how stories are being told. Its built-culture over borrowed-culture.
Why now? And why this rapid?
Three converging forces are making this moment possible:
A generational unlock: Across the region, young, globally-aware populations are demanding culture that reflects them and what the region stands for. Diversification with vision: National mandates like Saudi's Vision 2030 and the UAE's creative economy framework treat culture as core economic infrastructure, and not a side hustle. A blueprint we have seen prevail in global cultural centers like Paris or London. Reputation as strategy: Culture builds narrative capital. Museums, racetracks, festivals, biennales, they're not just for entertainment. They are narrative powerhouses, when optimised …
… and the region is playing the long game, nothing is short-term here. Look at the success cases: A 20 year old legacy for Qatar Museums with public commissions, robust programming, infrastructural marvels, public-private patronage, content pipelines, and a growing strategic ambition for the future. This is generational planning.
What this cultural shift means for global brands and creatives
Brand marketers can look at this as a 'regional opportunity' in-the-here and the-now or as a much larger global reframing, that will impact the messaging, the activations, the budgets and eventually the seat of power for the brand itself. If you're still showing up with one-size-fits-all toolkits, you're already behind.
For creatives, the region offers budget, boldness, and belief in imagination. We are finally not just a stopgap between New York and London. This is true creative capital in the making. While mature markets still dabble with cutesy photo ops, tennis court takeovers and matcha art cafes, our creatives are rewriting destination marketing through big, bold and bullish ideas, from Sharjah to Diriyah.
You would think the Middle East is catching up, but instead it's the world catching on. The region is no longer a backdrop for borrowed stories. It moves with a quiet confidence, beyond the noise and the novelty, towards a bold vision stitched into the civic fabric. Culture isn't coming here to perform, it's coming here to evolve.
It's time that culture got a new epicenter. A creative, unapologetic reframing of what the future can look like when it's rooted in identity, not imported in pieces.
By Saheba Sodhi, Global Head of Strategy & Experiential, MCH Global
