Collector Elie Khouri to Create Dubai Home for His Private Foundation
Due to open in 2028, the Elie Khouri Art Foundation will draw its first exhibitions from the collector’s holdings of more than 300 artists
Render of Elie Khouri Art Foundation, Dubai. Courtesy Counterspace
The Dubai-based collector Elie Khouri has unveiled designs for a permanent home for his foundation in a villa in the coastal district of Jumeirah.
The city has galleries and artists in abundance but no major museum, leaving private foundations — among them the Jameel Arts Centre and Alserkal Avenue — to carry much of its institutional weight.
The Elie Khouri Art Foundation (EKAF), due to open in late 2028, will take Khouri’s collection, with works by more than 300 artists, as the starting point for its first exhibitions, before shifting towards loans and collaborations. Caroline Louca, formerly managing director of Christie’s Middle East, has been appointed director and says community engagement will be central.
The news comes a week before Frieze launches its first Abu Dhabi edition on Saadiyat Island, running from 19 to 22 November, ahead of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opening on 11 December. Khouri told the Financial Times that, despite the continued US was with Iran, the regional market is holding up, ‘minus about 50 percent of tourism’.
Related content
Collector Elie Khouri to Create Dubai Home for His Private Foundation
Liverpool Biennial Names Artists for 2027 Edition
Mitrani Art to Open in Miami’s Little River
News
.jpg%3F2026-11-10T11%3A10%3A29.458Z&w=2560&q=85)
Liverpool Biennial Names Artists for 2027 Edition
The 14th edition of the citywide contemporary art festival will explore childhood, imagination and young people's responses to an uncertain future
Mitrani Art to Open in Miami’s Little River
The Screening Room and Dina Mitrani Gallery will share a permanent home after years of pop-up programming, as a new space opens in Little River
.jpg%3F2026-11-09T15%3A43%3A21.596Z&w=2560&q=85)
Canadian Dealers Quit US Fairs as Tariffs Reshape Market
Canadian galleries are pulling out of US fairs ahead of Miami Art Week
Ethan Fenton wins inaugural Paul Lowe Award for Photojournalism and Documentary Photography
Established in honour of the late photojournalist and professor Paul Lowe, the new annual prize celebrates works by UAL graduating students
Sweden Returns Benin Bronzes to Nigeria and Sacred Kallawaya Objects to Bolivia
The Swedish government is set to return artefacts from the historic Kingdom of Benin to Nigeria and objects belonging to Bolivia’s Kallawaya people, including human remains, in two separate restitution agreements
Turkey Adds AI to Its Antiquities Hunt as 100 Objects Return from the US
Forty Bronze Age objects and 44 terracotta panels returned by the J. Paul Getty Museum go on show in Istanbul
Charleston Launches £15 Million Endowment Campaign to Secure its Future
The former home of Bloomsbury painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant has launched an endowment campaign to safeguard its estate after facing major financial instability during the pandemic
What do the Midterms Results Mean for the US Culture Sector?
The US Democratic Party has flipped the House and Senate in the Midterm elections
Objects Reinstalled at Museo Nacional de Colombia after Government Removal
A Bogotá judge ordered the return of 63 items, many related to LGBTQ+ rights and feminism, back into the museum’s permanent galleries earlier this month
India Art Fair Announces Lineup for 2027 Edition
Over 120 exhibitors have been announced for the upcoming 18th edition of India Art Fair, taking place in New Delhi next year
A Former Editor Writes on the ‘Decline’ of Artforum
In an article for Tablet magazine, a former editor pens an insider account of the magazine’s recent years
Newly Opened Foundation in Kvareli Celebrates Georgian Contemporary Art
The Kvareli Foundation for Contemporary Art has opened to the public in Georgia today, amid ongoing country-wide protests
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter
Intel on the art market. Straight to your inbox.
