Elie Khouri Art Foundation is scheduled to open in Jumeirah 1 in late 2028.
Sumayya Vally’s Counterspace will transform an existing villa into the foundation’s permanent home.
Plans include contemporary art galleries, educational spaces, pavilions and gardens.
The contemporary art destination is scheduled to open in late 2028, with architecture by Sumayya Vally.
A villa in Jumeirah 1 is getting a new role in Dubai’s cultural life. Scheduled to open in late 2028, the Elie Khouri Art Foundation (EKAF) will turn an existing home into a destination for contemporary art, with exhibitions, education and community gatherings at its heart.
Founded by French-Lebanese entrepreneur and collector Elie Khouri, the institution builds on a collecting journey spanning more than two decades. His personal collection will supply works for the early exhibitions, while future programming will involve loans, invited curators and collaborations with museums. Artists from the UAE and wider Middle East will appear alongside international names.
The collection began with So Happy to See You, a 2002 painting by Lebanese-American artist Nabil Nahas. That personal interest has since developed into plans for a lasting public institution. A collector-in-residence programme at London’s Delfina Foundation in 2019 gave Khouri time to research how such a space might work.
South African architect Sumayya Vally, founder of Counterspace, is redesigning the Dubai villa, drawing on Beirut’s streets and traditional Gulf courtyard houses. Galleries, learning spaces, pavilions and gardens will give visitors different ways to spend time on site, while the architecture will retain traces of the property’s earlier life as a home.
Sumayya Vally has an impressive track record in creating places for cultural exchange. She became the youngest architect commissioned to design London’s Serpentine Pavilion and served as artistic director of Jeddah’s inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in 2023.
Leading the Elie Khouri Art Foundation is Caroline Louca, formerly managing director of Christie’s Middle East. Her experience includes work connected to Louvre Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Zayed National Museum. Talks, lectures and educational activities are also planned, giving the destination a role beyond its exhibition programme.
“Art belongs in everyday life, not apart from it,” Khouri told The National. That ambition makes the Jumeirah location particularly fitting. The plans suggest somewhere to return for a changing exhibition or a conversation, with contemporary art becoming part of the neighbourhood’s daily rhythm.
Contact: @eliekhouridxb