From Misk in Riyadh to Alserkal in Dubai and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah, the Middle East’s creative future is being built on shared spaces — with platforms like Design Doha Biennial showing how culture thrives through collaboration and community.
Creativity rarely flourishes in isolation. In the Middle East today, a network of institutions, festivals, and cultural districts is ensuring that artists, designers, and entrepreneurs not only produce but also collaborate, exchange, and sustain one another. What emerges is not simply art but ecosystems: communities that are shaping the region’s cultural future.
In Riyadh, the Misk Art Institute anchors Saudi Arabia’s creative economy. Its Art & Design Market 2025 offers free exhibition booths and mentorship, helping young practitioners commercialise their work. Its artist residencies pair locals with international mentors, building a culture of critique and collaboration that extends beyond the Kingdom. The effect: new networks, not just new artworks.
These two hubs remain the region’s most vivid examples of how creative communities take root. Alserkal Avenue galvanises Dubai’s cultural ecosystem through Quoz Arts Fest, an artist-in-residence programme, and subsidised studios that keep the barrier to entry low for emerging voices.
In Jeddah, Hayy Jameel has become Saudi Arabia’s home for cross-disciplinary exchange — with Hayy Cinema, community learning labs, and collaborative galleries creating daily encounters between artists, filmmakers, and the public. Both spaces prove that in 2025, cultural infrastructure is less about static buildings and more about living systems that nurture networks.
Alserkal Avenue in Dubai (L) and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah (R) — two cultural anchors turning industrial and purpose-built spaces into living systems where artists, audiences, and ideas converge.
Qatar’s inaugural Design Doha reframed craft and design as community practices. By showcasing Moroccan pottery alongside contemporary digital installations, the biennial connected artisans, students, and global designers in dialogue. Its workshops and talks positioned the event as more than a showcase — it became a regional meeting point where knowledge transfer fuels collective progress.
Design Doha Biennial — uniting artisans, designers, and audiences in a shared space of collaboration. Images: Design Doha Biennial / Instagram (@designdohabiennial).
Presented by Hypebeast, Abu Dhabi’s Bred Festival has fast become the Gulf’s largest gathering of youth culture, blending fashion, music, art, and food into a community platform that drew more than 50,000 attendees in 2025.
Beyond headliners and global brands, its strength lies in spotlighting regional voices. Dubai-born streetwear label Shabab Intl, founded by Cheb Moha, was among the standouts: a reminder that global platforms gain meaning when they elevate local creativity. Together, they show how festivals can galvanise identity, belonging, and collaboration across the Gulf’s youth community.
What ties these examples together is a shift from solitary practice to collective energy. Whether through state-backed institutions like Misk or independent districts like Alserkal, the story of Middle Eastern creativity is not one of a lone genius. It is one of the shared spaces, mutual support, and communities that make culture resilient.
