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

Not just a spectacular building, the museum is a treasure house of art arranged in a radical, intercultural manner

Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority talks about his favourite objects from the museum's collection

Emirati artist and curator talks about her favourite object from the museum's collection

Minister of State in the UAE government talks about about his favourite object from the museum's collection

CEO and MD of Mubadala Investment Company talks talks about his favourite object from the museum's collection

CEO and MD of Mubadala Investment Company talks about how the museum will become part of the fabric of the country

Emirati citizens talk about the museum's collection and global impact

Construction delays to the Zayed National Museum are behind the move

Leading Emirati commentator talks about how the museum will change the Gulf

Leading Emirati thinker, Zaki Nusseibeh, on why the UAE is more humanistic than its neighbours

UAE minister talks about how the museum will change visitors and residents alike

Commissioner of first UAE pavilion at the Venice Biennale talks about her favourite object from the museum's collection

UAE citizens talk about the work of art that speaks to them most

Highlights from the museum's permanent collection and exceptional loans

A vast floating dome sheds dappled light onto an Arab medina

The founding father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, set up an archaeological programme that anticipates the creation of Louvre Abu Dhabi

High-flying civil servant Manuel Rabaté describes how the museum will work

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit the Emirate for the inauguration of the international museum

As three new commissions open this year in the UK and Abu Dhabi, the US artist reflects on the continued dominance of war as a theme in her work and says she longs for Trump to be “in the past tense”

New curated section organised by Omar Kholeif aims to bring new works to Middle Eastern audiences

Show exploring annual pilgrimage to Mecca due to be held at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Thomas Krens doubts the time is right for an American museum "with a Jewish name" to be built in the Gulf

New pieces bolster museum’s collection of more than 600 works