Quoz Arts Fest 2025 guide: What not to miss

Syrian-American rapper Omar Offendum will be taking the stage along with a number of regional and local performers

Quoz Arts Fest 2025 will take place at Alserkal Avenue on January 25 and 26. Photo: Alserkal Avenue

It’s the 12th year of the Quoz Arts Fest, an event that brings art, music and food lovers from all corners of the UAE to Alserkal Avenue in the Quoz Creative Zone.

Running on January 25 and 26, the festival will include public art installations, live performances – including poetry, workshops and panel discussions, pop-ups, a dedicated children’s programme and more.

And with so much to look forward to, here are The National’s picks for experiences not to miss out on this year.

Live performances

American-Syrian rapper and poet Omar Offendum will be performing at Quoz Arts Fest this year. Photo: Quoz Arts Fest

Syrian-American poet and rapper Omar Offendum will take the stage, along with music collaborators oud virtuoso Ronnie Malley and acclaimed DJ Thanks Joey, to create a unique, genre-bending musical experience for audiences.

This includes Offendum’s blend of hip-hop and Arabic poetry through sounds and influences of hakawati storytelling techniques from Damascus with urban music culture from New York City. Offendum will be taking the main stage (named The Stage) on January 25 at 8pm.

Also part of the line-up is Tunisian-American singer and songwriter Emel Mathlouthi, whose viral protest song, Kelmti Horra (My Word is Free) went viral during the 2011 Tunisian revolution. Her sound is marked by a unique blend of musical styles, including tapping into her Arabic roots along with a range of Western influences, such as electronica and classical music.

Mathlouthi will also perform songs from her latest album, MRA, on the main stage on January 26 at 8.30pm. The album was released last year and explores facets of the fight for freedom through a feminist lens.

Tunisian alternative music duo Yuma, made up of Sabrine Jenhani and Ramy Zoghlemi, will be making their regional debut at the festival.

Known for their distinctive acoustic sound blending Tunisian music with folk-inspired melodies and modern indie sounds, their singles Smek and Nghir Alik have gained worldwide attention. Yuma will be performing on The Stage on January 25 at 7.30pm.

There will also be Quoz Encore throughout the weekend, where a collection of emerging musical artists from the UAE will be performing on Stage 2.0, including Emirati band Metarust, Moroccan-French singer-songwriter Younes Elamine, solo artist Souldier and more.

Public art

Forest Dancer and the Path to Pure Creation by Eness will be on show at the festival. Photo: Quoz Arts Fest

Eness is a multi-award winning multidisciplinary art and technology studio that creates interactive work through temporary and permanent public art.

Forest Dancer and the Path to Pure Creation is their immersive art installation at the Concrete space in the central yard of Alserkal Avenue. The installation is expected to be an immersive work exploring the intersection between the virtual and the physical, expressing the freedom and joy experienced through creativity.

Dubai artist and filmmaker Abdulla Alneyadi’s installation in the Yard, titled Bright Memories, is a reflection of his fond memories of the UAE. Alneyadi focuses on the idea of water dispensers, which were often placed around his neighbourhood as acts of charity. His installation invites the public to interact with works, highlighting the public service, providing free water to all who pass by.

Emirati visual artist Asma Belhamar’s delicate but monumental installation, Thresholds of Perception, explores the concept of the balcony as a liminal space between private and public realms. The works, which are reconstructed to human scale, are made of aluminum blend into their environment. Not only do they challenge perceptions of space, but also evoke nostalgia and blur the lines between modern urban spaces and traditional design elements and motifs from the region.

Gallery exhibitions

Film director Behzad K Noori explores his grandfather Gholamreza Amirbeigi’s legacy in photographs at Gulf Photo Plus. Photo: Quoz Arts Festival

Ongoing and new exhibitions featuring local, regional and international works of art will be on show throughout the weekend.

Lawrie Shabibi will be presenting a solo exhibition by Iranian-British artist Farhad Ahrarnia. Titled No Scheherazade, the exhibition shows his craft-making techniques, while citing regional and contemporary historical references inspired by the framing and plot devices of Scheherazade, the narrator of One Thousand and One Nights.

The Third Line presents a group show Neither Here, Nor Elsewhere, which features a range of work by artists from across Africa and Asia in various disciplines, exploring modes of control spanning social norms, gender and moral codes. Artists include Palestinian Faissal El-Malak, Iraqi-American-Swedish Hayv Kahraman, Iranian multi-disciplinary artist Mahsa Merci, Lebanese Omar Mismar and American-Qatari Sophia Al-Maria.

Gulf Photo Plus will present the work of Behzad K Noori, who explores his grandfather Gholamreza Amirbeigi’s legacy in photographs taken between 1956–1968, which capture Tehran’s working-class lives during extreme urban expansion. The exhibition combines Iran’s past, collective memories and personal archives and stories.

Green Art Gallery is showing the sculptures of Lebanese artist Chaouki Choukini, who blends organic and mechanical forms, as well as abstract and figurative elements to create a vibrant and timeless visual language.

Culinary delights

What The Food will present more than 50 concepts at this year's festival. Photo: Quoz Arts Festival

What The Food will offer more than 50 food concepts, presented through food trucks, restaurants and pop-up stands.

These will include Kokoro, a Korean-Japanese restaurant and handroll bar; SYOTG, Dubai’s answer to Oklahoma smash burgers and Wagyu philly cheesesteak; Men Bayti La Baytak, a food concept that specialises in handcrafted makdous; Mattar Farm, which will been serving smoked meats in BBQ and so-called third culture barbecue; and Kooya, the Filipino eatery, which blends traditional flavours with a modern twist.

For those with a sweettooth, Oma, a home-grown bakery from Dubai, will be serving their unique take on classic cookies and cakes. Ganache Chocolatier, located in Warehouse 82, will have a wide range of luxury chocolates, while Pekoe Tea and Bread Bar will also have a selection of their modern Japanese pastries.

Quoz Arts Fest 2025 will be running on January 25 and 26 at Alserkal Avenue in Quoz Creative Zone