Frieze, the international art fair franchise, is bringing its brand to Abu Dhabi for the first time, formally taking over from Abu Dhabi Art, which wrapped up its 17-edition run in 2025. The new fair, Frieze Abu Dhabi, will run from November 19 to 22 at Manarat Al Saadiyat and will host 84 galleries — a notably smaller, more curated line-up compared to the 140-plus galleries that exhibited in Abu Dhabi Art's final edition. The gallery list draws heavily on the region: UAE participants include Carbon 12, Lawrie Shabibi, The Third Line and Tabari Artspace, alongside Saudi galleries Athr and Hafez, and names from Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and India. International heavyweights such as Gagosian, Pace Gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac, Timothy Taylor and Vito Schnabel Gallery are also confirmed. Dyala Nusseibeh, who previously directed Abu Dhabi Art, will lead the new fair. With Abu Dhabi's addition, the emirate becomes the sixth city in Frieze's global network, joining London, New York, Los Angeles, Seoul and Paris. Organisers point to 2025 collector data showing UAE-based buyers accounted for just over 45 per cent of all Middle East and North Africa buyers at the fair, underscoring the country's growing weight in the regional art market. The move follows a pattern Frieze has repeated elsewhere: its London edition is widely credited with fuelling a broader boom in the city's gallery scene, and organisers are hoping a similar effect takes hold in Abu Dhabi, cementing Saadiyat Island's cultural district as a serious international art hub.