The NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Centre began its latest season on Friday with a sold-out concert by Palestinian singer, pianist and composer Faraj Suleiman.
During his UAE debut, he delivered a standout performance in The Red Theatre, showcasing evocative songwriting that weaves jazz, rock and classical Arabic influences, as heard on his breakthrough album Better Than Berlin and his latest release Maryam.
Speaking to The National after the show, Suleiman described the Abu Dhabi audience as one of the best he has encountered on his current world tour, which returns to the UAE with a Dubai Opera performance on December 7. “It was a great night” he told The National. “I have been looking forward to ths show for a long time and I am happy the chance came to connect with my audience in Abu Dhabi.
Here are other shows featured in the season.
Find Your Eyes, September 19 and 20
Photography, choreography and theatre meet in British photographer, visual artist and educator Benji Reid’s show Find Your Eyes. Journeying through highs and lows, the show explores how we make sense of the world through our stories and our art, as Reid draws from the well of his life experiences.
He delves into themes of vulnerability, tragedy and triumph through the photographer's lens. The audience is taken behind the scenes on an emotional journey, where conflict intertwines with beauty and the stage is transformed into his studio.
The Red Theatre, show starts at 7.30pm; tickets from Dh52.50
CinemaNA: Happy Holidays, October 14
Directed by Scandar Copti, the Palestinian family drama premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival where it won the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay. It follows siblings Fifi (Manar Shehab) and Rami (Toufic Daniel) as they navigate expectations within their fractured family. The screening will be followed by a conversation with the filmmaker.
The Blue Hall, show starts at 7.30pm; tickets from Dh15
CinemaNA: My Driver and I, November 4
Set in Jeddah during the 1980s and 1990s, My Driver and I traces the relationship between Salma, a privileged teenager, and Gamar, the Sudanese man employed to drive her Saudi family. Their bond grows into friendship, which complicates their roles within the established social order. The screening will be followed by a conversation with director Ahd Kamel.
The Blue Hall, show starts at 7.30pm; tickets from Dh15
Ballake Sissoko, Derek Gripper & Maryna Krut, November 14
Malian kora player Ballake Sissoko and South African guitarist Derek Gripper return to the Arts Centre for another collaborative event showcasing their virtuosity and chemistry, drawing on the Manding cultural tradition of West Africa. Joining them is Ukrainian singer and bandura player Maryna Krut, who blends folk heritage with jazz influence.
The Red Theatre, show starts at 7.30pm; tickets from Dh52.50
Hekayah: The Story, November 27
Poets, singers and musicians come together to showcase the diversity of the UAE in Hekayah: The Story. Emcee Shahad Alsaqqaf will host an evening of performances to celebrate the show's proximity to Eid Al Etihad.
The performers will be selected through a collaborative curatorial process by key players in the literary and performing arts communities across the UAE.
The Black Box Theatre, show starts at 7.30pm; tickets from Dh52.50
The Tasty Biscuits and Friends, January 24, 2026
UAE performance collective The Tasty Biscuits return with a genre-blending concert that combines storytelling and music. Featuring jazz vocalist Shilpa Ananth, rapper Tac and singer Gaya, the show followed the release of a live album later this year.
The Black Box Theatre, show starts at 7.30pm; tickets from Dh52.50
Tamas Festival, January 29, 2026
This one-day festival is led by electrifying Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan, a pioneer of the Arab indie scene with Soapkills and now returning with new album I Remember I Forget. Also on the bill are Al-Qasar, from Paris and Los Angeles, who mix Arabic psychedelia with North African rock, and Maruja Limon, a Barcelona band whose high-energy shows fuse rumba, flamenco, salsa, electronics and pop. Hamdan is also the inaugural guest of the weekly podcast Tarab.
The East Plaza, show starts at 7.30pm; tickets from Dh52.50
Ink – Huang Yi Studio +, February 5, 2026
In their latest collaboration Ink, choreographer Huang Yi and audiovisual artist Ryoichi Kurokawa reimagine calligrapher Tong Yang-Tze’s Silent Music series, blending movement, sound, visuals and space. Huang draws on his cultural roots to create a dynamic physical language, transforming dancers into brushes who paint the stage.
Kurokawa brings the ink to life with luminous holographic projections that mirror Tong’s brushstrokes. Merging analogue and digital, tradition and innovation, Ink is a striking fusion of ancient art and futuristic design. Huang was last seen in Abu Dhabi with his acclaimed robotic duet Huang Yi & Kuka.
The Red Theatre, show starts at 7.30 pm; tickets from Dh52.50
The Discreet Charm of the Pillars of Society, March 27, 2026
The Discreet Charm of the Pillars of Society, a play by acclaimed Egyptian theatre director and playwright Ahmed El Attar, tells the story of a Syrian woman who falls in love with a Swedish man, bringing their affluent families together for a wedding that reveals deep social divides. Despite their differences in race, gender and religion, both families share a common obsession: the pursuit of wealth. As the celebrations unfold, tensions rise and the interplay of love, class and politics is laid bare.
Delivered in Arabic, Swedish and English – with subtitles – the production features satirical dialogue and questions the cost of opportunity in a world defined by inequality.
The production marks a historic milestone, with El Attar becoming the first Arab playwright and director to be commissioned by Sweden’s National Theatre since its founding in 1788. It continues his long-standing exploration of family dynamics following his earlier works.
The Red Theatre, show starts at 7.30 pm; tickets from Dh52.50
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The five pillars of Islam
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Fight card
Preliminaries:
Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)
Main card:
Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)
Title card:
Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)
Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)
Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Read more about the coronavirus
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
The five pillars of Islam
The years Ramadan fell in May
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
