“They have realized that the stereotypes are false. It is very difficult to find a camel here,” laughed Munira Al Sayegh, as she talked about the 12 Latin American artists who were visiting the UAE for the first time to participate in the Residents program at Art Dubai that took place in March this year.

Hailing from Uruguay, Argentina, Cuba, Colombia and Brazil, this group of creatives was split between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where they produced new works inspired by their renewed vision of the region and experience living under the country’s cultural roof. “The artworks embody something new, something you would not expect. I worked with the artists closely to realize these projects,” added Al Sayegh, who co-curated the section alongside Brazilian Fernanda Brenner.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia at a very young age, so I excelled in the arts because it is a place where you do not have a sense of rules and regulations

With no premeditated theme, the four-to-eight-week residency culminated in a show of mixed media works by artists, including Brazilian Laura Lima, Argentinian Jerry B Martin, and Uruguayan Verónica Vázquez. As one of the three guest curators at this year’s iteration of Art Dubai, Al Sayegh also took the curatorial reins of the Campus Art Dubai (CAD) 7.0 cohort, a six-month seminar and residency program for Emirati and UAE-based artists.

Al Sayegh’s relationship with the arts goes back to her childhood. “I was diagnosed with dyslexia at a very young age, so I excelled in the arts because it is a place where you do not have a sense of rules and regulations,” she explained. However, on the professional front, her father hoped she would pursue a mainstream career. “I took what he said to heart and decided to study law for a year, and then I hated myself,” she shared.

You need to keep an ear to the ground and present a show that brings out a level of truth and the raw nature of the art

In 2007, she pursued her true calling with an undergraduate degree in the History of Art and Archaeology with a focus on the Middle East at the University of London’s School of African and Oriental Studies, developing a knack for mining non-Western cultural production. “I remember people asking me, ‘Who studies art history?’ I told them, ‘As a student of art history, I come up with everything’,” she details the cynicism with refreshing candor.

She moved to New York in 2012, where she developed a newfound admiration for contemporary art when she came across a group of GCC artists showcasing their works at a small gallery space. “I remember walking in and being blown away by what I saw. It was then that I became obsessed with the idea of what contemporary art could look like regionally,” she states. She moved back to Abu Dhabi in 2004 and has since worn many hats, including her current role as programs officer at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

For those aspiring to tread similar ground, Al Sayegh says research and curiosity are essential to the curatorial process. Her advice? “You need to keep an ear to the ground and present a show that brings out a level of truth and the raw nature of the art.”