Jameel Arts Centre Dubai wins Medal at first Art Basel Awards
- Last updated: May 22, 2025 | 10:25
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Art Jameel, the organisation that supports artists and creative communities, has announced that its Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai is one of three institutions globally awarded a Medal in the inaugural year of the Art Basel Awards, which recognises those “shaping the next generation of cutting-edge artistry”.
A distinguished jury of leading museum directors awarded this “gold standard for excellence” to those who “defy categorisation and challenge conventions”. Alongside Art + Practice (Los Angeles, California) and RAW Material Company (Dakar, Senegal), Jameel Arts Centre was recognised in the Museums and Institutions category.
“From a nominee pool of the world’s most influential voices and promising rising talents, an international jury of experts awards 36 medallists for their vanguard vision, skill and impact,” said the organisers of the Art Basel Awards, chaired by Vincenzo de Bellis, Chair, Art Basel Awards and Art Basel’s Director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms.
The Medal will be presented on June 19 to Art Jameel Chair and Co-Founder Fady Jameel, at a premier reception during Art Basel’s historic flagship fair in Basel, Switzerland, while Art Jameel Director Antonia Carver will present the work of Jameel Arts Centre at the Art Basel Awards Summit on June 20.
Fady Jameel said: “We are deeply honoured to receive this landmark award for Jameel Arts Centre – this recognition of our work is all the more meaningful in that it comes from the industry itself, and we thank the Art Basel Awards and the jury of highly influential, expert colleagues from around the world. At Art Jameel, our mantra is that the arts are fundamental to life and accessible to all: we are proud to serve as Dubai’s contemporary arts museum and to contribute to the region and beyond – collecting, commissioning and exhibiting dynamic artists, providing research and learning programmes and access to contemporary arts and ideas, for everyone.”
According to Vincenzo de Bellis, the Art Basel Awards are “not a competition, but a beacon. They shine a light on those working with radical vision, skill, and commitment to building communities of practice and exchange.” This year’s Art Basel Awards jury was challenged to spotlight visionaries creating new narratives, building alternative spaces, and pushing forward cultural conversation. The distinguished jury is composed of leaders from every continent around the world, including Hoor Al-Qasimi, President and Director, Sharjah Art Foundation; Elena Filipovic, Director, Kunstmuseum Basel; Jessica Morgan, Nathalie de Gunzberg Director, Dia Art Foundation, New York; Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, Serpentine, London; Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director, Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP); Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, Hong Kong; Franklin Sirmans, Director, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM); and Philip Tinari, Director and Chief Executive, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing. The Art Basel Awards also pay tribute to jury member Koyo Kouoh (1967-2025), the highly influential Executive Director and Chief Curator, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town, and Curator, 61st International Art Exhibition (2026), La Biennale di Venezia.
Later this year, the Medalists will pilot a peer-driven process, whereby they will vote to select up to 12 Gold Medalists from among themselves, representing the Art Basel Awards’ highest honour and offering a new model of recognition, to be revealed in December 2025 during the Official Night of the Art Basel Awards in Miami Beach. Launched by Art Basel in 2025, the Art Basel Awards are the world’s first global honours dedicated to recognising excellence across the contemporary art world. Each year, an International Jury of experts awards the Medals to individuals and organisations spanning the industry, whose practices and contributions shape the future of art.
Medalists are selected against four key pillars: vision and innovation, skill and execution, engagement, and broader impact. The Awards confer support in the form of honorariums alongside global networking, philanthropic initiatives, partnerships and high-profile commissions, designed to propel Medalists’ work onto new platforms and initiate new networks. Medalists are recognised globally by Art Basel through year-round campaigns and initiatives, including the Art Basel Awards Summit, the annual thought leadership conference for the most influential figures in the global art world and neighbouring creative industries, held in Basel, Switzerland.
Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel stages the world’s premier art fairs for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris. Art Basel’s engagement includes digital platforms including the Art Basel App and initiatives such as the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, the Art Basel Awards, and the Art Basel Shop. Art Basel’s Global Lead Partner is UBS. Known as one of Dubai’s hubs for contemporary arts and ideas, Jameel Arts Centre presents curated solo and group exhibitions drawn from the Art Jameel Collection and through regional and international collaborations. The Centre is a 10,000-square-metre, three-storey, multi-disciplinary space designed by UK-based practice, Serie Architects.
The building is ornamented by seven gardens, designed by landscape architect Anouk Vogel, which reflect local and global desert biomes. Sitting alongside is the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, designed by Waiwai and a collaboration between Art Jameel and Dubai Holding. Located by the creek in Dubai’s Jaddaf Waterfront neighbourhood, the Jameel’s galleries are complemented by the Jameel Library, an open-access research centre dedicated to artists and cultural movements in the Gulf States and beyond, project and commission spaces, a writer’s studio, the artisan seasonal dining concept, Teible, and the Art Jameel Shop.