Art dealer Thaddaeus Ropac and curator Maya Allison tell us how the nation’s creative ambitions have blossomed. Plus: Silver Lion-winning musician and artist Hassan Khan on his Abu Dhabi Art performance

As Abu Dhabi Art fair opens, we speak to the Saudi artists Manal Al Dowayan and Ahmed Mater. Plus: Iraq's Dia Azzawi on creating the Arab world's Guernica

Some dealers at the fair report brisk early business but say big sales are a waiting game

Is the UAE now the art capital of the Middle East?

With all eyes on Abu Dhabi this week, we speak to the architect Jean Nouvel on designing the Arab world's first universal museum. Plus: a preview of Abu Dhabi Art fair

This year’s fair has 13 new exhibitors and is hoping for more international visitors

Dalloul Art Foundation investigates authenticity of some Middle Eastern works before museum opening

Christie’s moves October auction to London as rival plans first sale in the UAE

Irving Finkel has penned his first novel

Abdulnasser Gharem says the US show allows him more freedom than he may have in Saudi Arabia

Guggenheim show in Shanghai was abruptly cancelled but curiosity about the region continues to grow

Former lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Arabian army is known for his politically and socially engaged works that draw on his Muslim heritage

New works draw attention to destruction of Islamic heritage and female car crash victims

Mohamed Abla's show of new works in Cairo is on amid a moment of prolonged political agony in the country

New museum is housed in a converted former palace of Saddam Hussein

Culture bus heads to Washington in bid to change attitudes to the Middle East

Interest grows in younger generation active in Tehran’s lively art scene and the Iranian diaspora

Gentrification in Battersea forces Middle Eastern arts foundation to look for another home

Lyn Rodley considers the relationship between Byzantine theology and the Great Church

The country’s monasteries and mosques have no place in the Caliphate