Gail Spaien. Red Tulips. 2024. Acrylic on linen. 132 x 122 cm. Image courtesy of the artist
Efie Gallery has unveiled its plans to open a new 400-square-metre space in Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, in April 2025.
The family-run gallery will continue to be directed by its co-founder, Kwame Mintah. “This expansion is more than just a new space—it’s a statement of our commitment to creating deeper artistic exchanges between Africa, the Middle East, and the global diaspora. Alserkal Avenue provides the perfect environment for us to push boundaries, presenting ambitious exhibitions that challenge and inspire. We look forward to welcoming visitors into a space where art and music intersect in dynamic ways,” he shared.
The plans follow a redesign by the Mintah family and Dubai-based architect Suhaira Yousif. The new space is designed to accommodate larger, immersive installations and further reinforce the gallery’s commitment to promoting artists of African descent from the African continent and its global diaspora.
The gallery’s new premises include a large ground-floor exhibition space and an expanded Rekord Gallery, a hybrid space for visual art and music. The Rekord Gallery will house a collection of over 2,000 vinyl and shellac records from the 1940s to the present. It will also host rotating exhibitions focusing on the intersection of sound, culture and history.
Coinciding with Art Dubai, the new space will open with an exhibition by María Magdalena Campos-Pons entitled I Am Soil. My Tears Are Water. Curated by Faridah Folawiyo, the show will present new works by Campos-Pons, exploring themes of diaspora, spirituality and cultural interconnectedness. Drawing inspiration from botanicals native to Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, such as hibiscus and sugarcane, the artist examines the interrelationship between nature and culture across continents, enriched by a collaboration with multifaceted musician Kamaal Malak. A centre piece included in the show will also reimagine her sculptural work Sugar/Bittersweet (2010) as a new site-specific installation with 12 antique African spears sourced from local collections in the UAE.
