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Art Dubai’s flagship transdisciplinary summit, the Global Art Forum, marks a major milestone with a landmark 20th anniversary edition in 2026. Organised by long-term Commissioner Shumon Basar and taking place on 17–18 April, this edition reflects on two decades of conversations that have shaped the Forum’s role as a space for critical exchange across art, culture, technology and society. 

Revisiting key themes that have defined its programme, including trade, automation, and learning, as well as welcoming back voices from its extensive international network, the Forum considers how ideas, institutions and creative practices have evolved, and how they continue to respond to a rapidly changing world. 

This anniversary edition celebrates the diverse, intergenerational community the Global Art Forum has built over twenty years, a period that has paralleled Dubai’s own transformation from a start-up city to a global export-paradigm.  

Over the years, the Forum has toured to Qatar, Kuwait, France, Singapore and the UK, and grown to include publications, workshops and other educational initiatives.