Alserkal, the Dubai-based cultural enterprise, and Design Miami will launch a new regional platform for collectible design in Dubai through a multi-year partnership, the two organizations announced Tuesday. The initiative—built around a flagship fair and year-round programming—will debut in early 2027 and marks Design Miami’s first expansion into the Middle East.
The collaboration brings together Alserkal’s 15-year track record in developing Dubai’s contemporary art and creative industries with Design Miami’s two decades of convening top-tier galleries, designers, and collectors in Miami and Paris. The partners aim to “triangulate” those hubs with Dubai, creating a network that elevates design from the Middle East onto the global stage.
“Design has long been part of our ecosystem, and this partnership comes at exactly the right moment to amplify the voices and ideas germinating here,” said Vilma Jurkute, Alserkal’s executive director, in an email to ARTnews. “Our multi-year partnership with Design Miami triangulates global exchange between Miami, Paris and Dubai, marking a pivotal moment for the design world. This platform allows us to mould a design forum anchored in mutual commitment and shared values, while bridging pioneering voices from the Middle East and beyond.”
The move comes as Dubai positions itself as a leading creative capital in the region. This year, UNESCO named Dubai a Creative City of Design, and design-related activity now accounts for 52% of the city’s cultural GDP, according to Alserkal.
Jurkute said those indicators made the timing clear: “The UAE has become a leading blueprint for contemporary art in the region and is ready for a platform of this scale. Anchoring the initiative in Dubai reflects the city’s growing role in international cultural exchange and strengthens how the region contributes to the evolving global market for collectible design.”
Design Miami CEO Jen Roberts said in a press release that the partnership offers an opportunity to show design as “a global language,” while chairman Jesse Lee described the move as combining “two decades of expertise in shaping the collectible design market with Alserkal’s pivotal role in shaping the cultural landscape of Dubai.”
Further details about programming and curatorial direction are expected in the coming months.
