Six-year-old Noor Al Suwaidi is frustrated. The felt-tip pens she has at her disposal are limiting the creative spark inside her – something she already recognised even as a little girl growing up in Abu Dhabi. Fast-forward 38 years, and the now 44-year-old represents the realisation of that young girl’s dream – an accomplished artist, helping to shape and build the UAE’s growing art scene. 

“I’m a full-time artist. I’m proud of this term because I’ve been working in the arts for 20 years, and it’s what I always wanted to do,” she tells Villa 88. Noor is animated in her speech, often using hand gestures as punctuation. Her passion for the arts is palpable. But her path to becoming a full-time artist was far from straightforward. 

For two decades, she wore multiple hats – curator, cultural producer, and institution builder – helping establish the UAE’s contemporary art infrastructure from the ground up. Her journey began unexpectedly in 2004, while she was working a corporate job at Dubai Holding as a senior coordinator. 

“His Excellency Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi walked into my office and said, ‘What are you doing here?’ I said, ‘I’m an artist, but I do this job so I can make money’,” Noor recalls. What he said next would end up changing her trajectory. “I’m going to come back for you,” she remembers him saying. “We’re going to build art and culture here.” 

True to his word, two years later, Noor was invited to join the founding team of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. From there, she pursued a master’s in curating in London, then interning at Sotheby’s, gaining invaluable experience. 

On returning home, she started curating exhibitions that launched the careers of now-prominent Emirati artists. 

“At the time, there wasn’t anybody organising things for artists from the UAE,” she explains. “I worked with [art curator and cultural entrepreneur] Giuseppe Moscatello at Maraya Art Center on my first show. Alaa Edris was in that show, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Alia Zaal…and now look where those artists are today.” 

Her work with institutions took her through major cultural milestones – head-hunted to support Louvre Abu Dhabi’s opening, leading VIP programmes at Abu Dhabi Art, and cultural diplomacy work with the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C., that saw 25 artists’ works tour America for three years. 

She now serves on the Cultural Diplomacy Leadership Council at Meridian International – “a big deal, because I don’t think there’s anybody else from the GCC,” she says. But the administrative demands took their toll. “You’re so immersed in the administration of art and culture that it’s very hard to still be producing,” she admits. “A lot of people keep saying you can do both, but I disagree.”

Turning 40 during Covid became a tipping point. “I was thinking to myself that I’ve helped all these artists, and now it’s my time,” she notes. So, finally, she made the leap to full-time practice, currently working as an artist-in-residence at House of Arts, Expo City. 

Her work draws from diverse influences – Jane Austen’s social observations, Paulo Coelho’s philosophy, Arabic poetry, and the landscapes she has encountered through residencies in Berlin, upstate New York, and Mexico City. “I believe in the soft power of art,” she says. “Art can open people’s hearts towards each other via music, dance or visuals.”

When it comes to collecting art, Noor’s advice is refreshingly straightforward. “Buy what you like. Ask a lot of questions,” she says, encouraging new collectors to establish their own parameters – a budget and focus area, to start with. “Decide what you want to support – for example, young emerging artists – and how much you’re willing to spend.” 

She also suggests starting small, with works on paper or photography. “The best thing is to go to art fairs, and don’t go once. Go twice, three times, and your eye will get trained and start learning what it likes and what it doesn’t like.”

Looking ahead, Noor has an ambitious schedule – showing at Art Mumbai, participating in Art Egypt at the Pyramids, and, most significantly, a solo exhibition at Maraya Art Center in April 2026. “That’s a big moment for me, to have an institutional show,” she says. “It’s something that every artist needs – non-commercial, exploring the practice deeper.” 

With so much coming up, how does she plan on spending her downtime? “I like being around old friends who remind me of who I am and where I came from,” says Noor. “Go where the love is. That’s what I always say.” 

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