Gallery Isabelle Marks 20 Years with 20-Day Exhibition in Dubai

Gallery Isabelle celebrated its 20th anniversary in April 2026 with "Move, Pause, Return," a 20-day exhibition in Dubai that unveiled one artwork per day before a final gathering of all 20 artists. Founder Isabelle de Caters opened her first space, B21 Gallery, in Al Quoz in 2006 when contemporary art in the Gulf was seen as a passing fad. The gallery, now located at Alserkal Avenue, has championed regional artists including the late Farhad Moshiri, Hassan Sharif, Ahmad Amin Nazar, and Lara Baladi. The anniversary show paired each artist with an emerging writer or curator, such as Hafsa Alkhudairi, who wrote a poem in response to Baladi's "Diary of the Future" (2008–10). The exhibition's slow pace was conceived in conversation with Alexie Glass-Kantor, who contributed a text. De Caters noted that the program began during regional tensions with Iranian drones and missiles, and the second day featured late Iranian photographer Bahman Jalali, who documented the Iran-Iraq war. The gallery is presenting three new artists this year: Tirdad Hashemi, Alia Zaal, and Tatiana Chalhoub. De Caters emphasized that growth was always a response to what was happening, never dictated by commerce. The interview was conducted by Elaine W. Ng, editor and publisher of ArtAsiaPacific.