The Jean Nouvel-designed Louvre Abu Dhabi
The Richard Mille Art Prize, held under the celebrated dome at Louvre Abu Dhabi showcases artists from the Gulf region. Maria Sukkar, LUX senior contributing editor and co-chair of the Tate Middle East North Africa Acquisitions Committee, talks to the most recent curator, Maya El Khalil, and winning artist Nabla Yahya, at a time when previously marginalised artistic voices are becoming increasingly prominent

Transparencies was the theme for the Richard Mille Art Prize 2023/2024, a concept that inspired eight artists from in and around the Gulf to submit striking, varied works.
The Prize, created by the uber-luxury Swiss watch brand in partnership with Louvre Abu Dhabi, supports and showcases contemporary artists based in the Gulf region, an area whose artistic voices have been historically sidelined by a Western-centric art perspective. Oxford-based curator Maya El Khalil and a jury of curators and authorities chose Dubai-based Nabla Yahya for SoftBank, her multimedia reflection on the history of the Suez Canal, for which she won $60,000 and a global platform, celebrated at a gala dinner.
Photograph of winner Nabla Yahya
Entry for the next Richard Mille Art Prize is open to artists from seven North African countries. The Prize is becoming one of the most influential in the world, with this year?s event taking place under the celebrated dome of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Maria Sukkar, collector and a major voice in the contemporary-art wor...