The Art Circle Award 2026 Announces Open Call for UAE-Based Artists

The Art Circle, the UAE-based non-profit championing local artists since 2018, has just opened its sixth annual award to UAE-based artists, and artists are invited to submit their applications by September 10th.

The theme guiding this edition is a single evocative phrase, "on mending... when the breaking is still happening." Rather than treating repair as something that erases damage, it pushes artists towards a messier, more honest idea of healing as ongoing, imperfect, and active.

Backed by Alserkal, the Dubai-based arts and culture enterprise behind Alserkal Avenue, the award has built a reputation as one of the UAE's more accessible routes into serious art world attention. Finalists get their work shown at Alserkal Avenue in November, with the winner announced on the opening night in front of curators, collectors, and institutional figures.

The winning piece joins The Art Circle Collection permanently and gets reproduced as a limited run of Giclée prints, which then circulate through the organisation's 2027 international exchanges and collaborations, putting the work in front of a much wider network than a single exhibition would.

Apart from the winner’s monetary award, shortlisted entrants receive a certificate of participation, get featured across The Art Circle's digital platforms, and still land a spot in the Alserkal Avenue show.

Entrants need to be UAE nationals or residents aged 18 or over, and only painting and mixed media will be considered—no digital work—with pieces measuring between 40 and 80 cm per side. There's no entry fee, and the application form and guidelines are available on The Art Circle’s website.