Your guide to all the events taking place in the nation’s capital

Thursday February 22

There’s a Brazilian Festival at Yas Mall

Four days of carnival fun start today on Yas Island. You can also see samba shows, try Latin American food at the mall’s Town Square, plus characters from Monica & Friends, the Brazilian version of Mickey Mouse will be in attendance. There will also be pop-up stalls, featuring brands such as Solari, Flora Brasil and Sweetez.
Yas Mall, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, free entry. Taxi: Yas Mall. yasmall.ae

East meets West on Saadiyat at a new exhibition

ADMAF’s Abu Dhabi Festival is back, and first up is From Barcelona To Abu Dhabi, a collaboration with the Barcelona Museum Of Contemporary Art. On display are works from the European museum alongside pieces by 20 Emirati talents. In total, there’ll be art on display from more than 60 creatives, spanning 90 years. Emirati artists exhibiting include Mohammed Kazem, Farah Al Qasimi, Ebtisam AbdulAziz and MA Ibrahim. Artists from the museum in Barcelona include abstract duo Gusmão & Paiva, who use 16mm film projectors for some of their pieces, the late Spanish sculptor Juan Muñoz and American conceptual artist John Baldessari.
Until March 17
Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, daily 9am to 8pm, free. Tel: (02) 6575800. Taxi: Manarat Al Saadiyat. abudhabifestival.ae

New art exhibition at the Fairmont

The Fairmont is hosting art by six local talents this month, and a huge name in the world of photography, as part of an inaugural exhibition by a new company created by Abu Dhabi-based artist Emily Gordon. iAM Here & Now is the first exhibition by International Artists Management, founded by long-time capital resident Gordon, to promote local and international talents (you may well have seen her work at the Fairmont before, at one of the No White Walls exhibitions – she’ll also be displaying work at this new event). Exhibiting are Australian landscape and fashion photographer Anthony Horth, plus locally-based talents Rashed Al Mansoori, Unni Kriens, Maryam Abdulla and more.
Until March 31
Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Khor Al Maqta, Abu Dhabi, free. Tel: (02) 6543238. Taxi: Fairmont Bab Al Bahr. fairmont.com/abu-dhabi, intlartmgmt.com

Friday February 23

Cheer on the Abu Dhabi Tour

The biggest names in professional cycling are currently racing through the emirate’s streets for five days. Today they are doing a loop of the capital, and tomorrow there’s a time trial event on Al Reem and Al Maryah Island. There will be road closures as a result, and we have all the info you need to know about those right here.
abudhabitour.com

Weekends At The Oasis

Head to the Garden City for kids’ workshops, traditional Emirati cooking demos, a market and more.
Al Ain Oasis, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, 2pm to midnight. Tel: (800) 555. Taxi: Al Ain Oasis. abudhabievents.ae

New venue for the Eat.Play.Laugh brunch

Fancy dining out alfresco this weekend? The Marriott Downtown’s adults-only brunch has moved to the hotel’s rooftop bar Grill@25.
Marriott Hotel Downtown, Al Wahda, Abu Dhabi, 12.30pm, to 4pm. Dhs330 to Dhs540. Tel: (02) 3047777. Taxi: Marriott Downtown, near Al Wahda Mall. marriott.com

Go see From One Louvre To Another

The inaugural special exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi, From One Louvre To Another: Opening A Museum For Everyone, traces the history of Musée du Louvre in Paris and will run throughout the first quarter of 2018. It features approximately 145 significant paintings, sculptures, decorative arts and other pieces from the collections of Musée du Louvre and Château de Versailles.
Louvre Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. Tel: (600) 565566. Taxi: Louvre Abu Dhabi. louvreabudhabi.ae

Saturday February 24

See Dua Lipa in concert

The rising British pop star is performing tonight in the capital. She was the most streamed artist in 2017 on Spotify, beating the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift.
du Forum, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Taxi: du Forum. ticketmaster.ae

Check out new exhibition Nothing Is Permanent

Two award-winning talents are exhibiting at NYU this month – Italian architect Alessandro Petti and architect and researcher Sandi Hilal are the codirectors of DAAR, an architectural studio and artistic residency programme based near Bethlehem. The exhibition Permanent Temporariness examines how human experiences are influenced by our understanding of permanence or impermanence through a series of art installations. In a nutshell, it’s a study of exile and displacement caused by political, social and economic reasons.
From February 24
NYUAD Art Gallery, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, free (advance booking required). Tel: (02) 6284000. Taxi: NYUAD. nyuad-artgallery.org

See movies for free on Yas Island

Fancy watching movies outdoors? Arabic, Indian and English flicks will be sceened at Gateway Park this month, including the classic 1978 flick Grease starring John Travolta.
February 23 and 24
Gateway Park South, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, Thur, Fri, Sat, doors open 4pm, free. Taxi: Gateway Park, Yas Island. yasisland.ae

Markazi refugee exhibition at NYU

NYU hosts a new exhibition this month – Markazi sees photos from two talents on display; award-winning French-Algerian photographer Nadia Benchallal and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at New York University Abu Dhabi Nathalie Peutz. The exhibition looks at forced migration, displacement, identity and heritage and the images by Benchallal were taken at the UN Refugee Agency camp in Djibouti, where some 1,500 refugees are currently living. The photos give an insight to what life is really like in a refugee camp.
Until February 27
The Project Space, NYU Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, free. Taxi: NYU. nyuadartgallery.org

Van Gogh like you’ve never seen him before

See the works of Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch impressionist, in the capital at Abu Dhabi National Theatre in a very unique way – Van Gogh Alive projects the artist’s works onto the gallery’s walls, showing them at a larger scale and in stunning detail. The show features 3,000 images set to a soundtrack of classical musical.
Until February 26
Abu Dhabi National Theatre, Al Itihad, Abu Dhabi, 9am to 10pm, Dhs70. Taxi: National Theatre, near Sky News and Abu Dhabi Media buildings. tickets.virginmegastore.me

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