Sunny Rahbar

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Of Iranian origin and was raised in Dubai, UAE when her parents moved there in 1980.
Rahbar graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts from Parsons School of Design, New York in 2000. During school and after graduation, she worked and interned at different art spaces in NY including the Guggenheim Museum and Phoenix Art Gallery, one of the first artist run spaces in New York.
At the end of 2001, after witnessing 9/11 in New York she returned to Dubai, with a determination to change the then negative perception of the Arab/ Iranian / Muslim world and started working independently with young and emerging artists from this part of the world, whom she believed should be given a platform and supported and for their stories to be told. She maintains that art can bridge divide and affect change.
In 2003, she co founded Bidoun Magazine, with Lisa Farjam. The magazine focused on art, culture and critical writing from the region and its diaspora. The first magazine of its kind.
In 2005, Rahbar, and her partners Claudia Cellini and Omar Ghobash, established The Third Line gallery in Al Quoz, the industrial district of Dubai, becoming the first contemporary art gallery to open in Al Quoz.

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Salem AlSuwaidi

‍is an Emirati writer and curator from Abu Dhabi. He is also the Founder of SWALIF, an art and literature project-based collective for youth in the Khaleej. Salem completed a degree in Politics and Geography from King's College London and is interested in discussions on nationalism, cultural hegemony, and post-structural development. He regularly curates group exhibitions and public programming across the UAE, including the curation of “Khaleejiness” (Manarat AlSaadiyat, 2021), “Ybna Al3eid” (Bayt AlMamzar, 2022), “Zuhoor” (Manarat AlSaadiyat, 2023), and the programming of “Getting Over the Color Green” (AlSerkal Avenue, 2023), the MiZa Library (Mina Zayed, 2023), and “The Dissapearing Art Show 2.0 (2024). His practice is motivated by varying degrees of socio-cultural critique, as well as a constant pursuit of ideological reimaginations.

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Caroline Louca

Caroline Louca, an art consultant with a rich background in the cultural sector, will guide attendees through the nuances of art collecting. In her previous role as MD of Christie’s Middle East and her deep involvement in establishing the acquisition committees for the Louvre and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Caroline offers a unique view on building a prestigious art collection.

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Gaith Abdulla

A writer and Gulf studies specialist based in Dubai. His research focuses on socio-politics of the Gulf and its intersection with the region’s contemporary art and culture. Gaith is the co-founder of collecting-and-research platform Engage101 and co-founder of Bayt AlMamzar, an independent art space in Dubai.