Alserkal Arts Foundation

Alserkal Arts Foundation is the not-for-profit arts arm of Alserkal, the Dubai-based cultural enterprise founded in 2007 by Emirati businessman and patron Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal. The Foundation commissions artistic projects, awards research grants, and supports multidisciplinary scholarship and alternative learning. It hosts residencies and facilitates research at its studios and study spaces within Alserkal Avenue, the cultural district in Al Quoz that Alserkal transformed from a former industrial site into one of the region's most vibrant creative quarters. The Foundation describes its approach as expansive, privileging relevance and connectivity over geographic limits or disciplinary boundaries. Working closely with artists, curators and thinkers, its programmes are designed to let audiences engage with experimental ideas and processes that inspire thought-provoking cultural production. It aims to create a responsive environment where learning is peer-led, organic, participatory and accessible, welcoming practitioners whose methodologies challenge institutional convention. Alserkal Arts Foundation is supported by Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Ahmad Bin Eisa Alserkal and the Alserkal family. It serves as a hub for Alserkal's not-for-profit initiatives, bringing together and building on the cultural programming and partnerships central to the organisation's ethos since the inception of Alserkal Avenue. Alongside the Foundation, Alserkal's work is anchored in three pillars: the Arts Foundation, the Advisory strategic consultancy established in 2021, and its Cultural Districts, of which Alserkal Avenue is the flagship. Alserkal Avenue itself is home to more than 90 creative businesses across art, design, food, performance and lifestyle, including 17 leading galleries that anchor the regional art ecosystem, and welcomes almost two million visitors annually. Through the Foundation, Alserkal supports artists, researchers and curators through grants, commissions and residencies, contributing to Dubai's cultural landscape and the wider MENASA region's creative economy.

Alserkal Arts Foundation is part of Alserkal, a cultural enterprise founded in 2007 by Emirati businessman and patron Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal. According to Alserkal's own account, the organisation began with the transformation of a former industrial site into Alserkal Avenue, which grew into one of the region's most vibrant cultural districts, home to more than 100 creative organisations and welcoming over two million visitors each year. The Foundation was created as the hub for Alserkal's not-for-profit initiatives, bringing together and building on the cultural programming and partnerships that had been central to the organisation's ethos since the inception of Alserkal Avenue. Its stated mission is to commission artistic projects, award research grants, and support multidisciplinary scholarship and alternative learning, hosting residencies and facilitating research at its studios and study spaces at Alserkal Avenue. Alserkal's work is anchored in three pillars: the Arts Foundation, the Advisory strategic consultancy established in 2021, and its Cultural Districts, of which Alserkal Avenue is the flagship. Through the Arts Foundation, Alserkal supports artists, researchers and curators through grants, commissions and residencies. The organisation reports having delivered more than 5,000 public programmes and collaborated with over 500 institutions worldwide, expanding the city's cultural infrastructure through sustained investment in creative spaces, cultural initiatives and public art. The Foundation is supported by Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Ahmad Bin Eisa Alserkal and the Alserkal family. It operates within Alserkal Avenue in Al Quoz, Dubai, a district that is home to 17 leading galleries anchoring the regional art ecosystem and presents a year-round programme including Quoz Arts Fest each January and Alserkal Art Week twice a year.

• 2021

  Alserkal Advisory strategic consultancy established, extending the enterprise's cultural planning and strategy work.

• 2007

  Alserkal founded by Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal; transformation of a former industrial site into Alserkal Avenue begins.

A not-for-profit arts foundation within Dubai's Alserkal cultural enterprise, focused on experimental, peer-led and multidisciplinary artistic research and residencies at Alserkal Avenue.

• Residency + Research Programmes

  Residencies and research facilitation at the Foundation's studios and study spaces at Alserkal Avenue.

• Research grants

  Grants awarded to support research and multidisciplinary scholarship.

• Artistic commissions

  Commissions of artistic projects by the Foundation.

• Common Room

  A Foundation space listed among its programmes.

1. 1Alserkal Arts Foundation | Research & Residenciesalserkal.online
2. 2Alserkal Art District | A Place of Cultural Discoveryalserkal.online
3. 3Alserkal Avenue | Arts and Homegrown Creative Conceptsalserkal.online
4. 4Alserkal Arts Foundationwikidata.org