Artforum carried the news internationally, reporting the shape of the first Frieze Abu Dhabi for an art-world readership outside the Gulf. The fair is Frieze's first in the region, joining its editions in London, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Seoul, and it succeeds Abu Dhabi Art.
The edition takes place at Manarat Al Saadiyat from 19 to 22 November 2026, with exhibitors chosen by a selection committee drawn from the region and beyond. The inaugural Frieze Abu Dhabi Artist Award goes to Dala Nasser, whose site-responsive commission Qubbat Duris draws on a thirteenth-century monument near Baalbek in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Frieze Masters Abu Dhabi and Global Futures complete the floor plan, the latter built around solo presentations by artists working with Emirati and regional histories.
Tabari has built its programme around artists working between the Gulf, the Levant and North Africa, and the Galleries section places that programme among established international names at the fair's first outing. The gallery presents Be The Stone in Abu Dhabi in November, after showing in London at Frieze's No.9 Cork Street space in late October.