XVA Gallery
XVA Gallery
4.5
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
Established in 2003, XVA is one of the leading galleries in the Middle East that specializes in contemporary art from the Arab world and Iran. Its rigorous exhibition program includes works by emerging, mid-career and established artists who are responding to their local environments in thoughtful and provocative ways. XVA conceived of and organized the fair as part of its commitment to raising the profile of contemporary art practice in Dubai. The gallery is also committed to raising this profile internationally, participating in art fairs in Istanbul and Hong Kong.
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The area
Neighbourhood: Al Fahidi
How to get there
- Al Fahidi • 6 min walk
- Al Ras • 9 min walk
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
39 reviews
Excellent
21
Very good
11
Average
7
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cocorotsie
Vancouver, Canada378 contributions
Jan 2011 • Friends
I have lived in Dubai for 4 years and always recommend wandering around the Bastakiya area to see the old architecture, wind towers and the XVA gallery. They always have interesting exhibits.
I believe you can also stay there (kind of a traditional Middle Eastern little boutique hotel) which would be a very nice way to experience the area and Dubai. Most of Dubai is "new Dubai" with the tallest building in the world, 7 star hotel, etc.
Whether just strolling around or staying, the XVA is one of the more traditional pieces of culture you can enjoy in Dubai.
Highly recommended again and again.
I believe you can also stay there (kind of a traditional Middle Eastern little boutique hotel) which would be a very nice way to experience the area and Dubai. Most of Dubai is "new Dubai" with the tallest building in the world, 7 star hotel, etc.
Whether just strolling around or staying, the XVA is one of the more traditional pieces of culture you can enjoy in Dubai.
Highly recommended again and again.
Written 6 August 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rodrigoelp
Sydney, Australia261 contributions
Feb 2017 • Couples
I must be completely honest, Dubai left me a superb and marvellous shock as I was expecting something completely different to our experience. This place was one of those that contributed to this.
Walking eastbound from the Al Fahidi Fort (Dubai Museum) and into the old town surrounded by so many things to see, you will find the XVA Art Hotel. We found it by pure luck as it was not referenced on anything that we had bookmarked that day to visit. In fact, we didn't have it at all on the list of things to see. It was those sorts of opportunities where you say 'How about we just walk down this maze to take a couple of pictures... I am bored of all these buildings, this looks a tad different...' and 10 minutes later you find this inviting door, you look in and there are a series of empty tables shaded with lino cloth roofing and a beautiful green tree and dried roses hanging off it.
How in the world could you turn and walk away from this? To us, this is what made the middle east so charming and appealing to visit (more than the soulless mega buildings).
We stayed, capturing every inch with our camera just to find one of the guys from reception looking at us, saying "inspiring, isn't it? Are you guys hungry? or just want to take pictures?"
I had no idea of the menu or the prices, but a look at my wife told me, we are having dinner here. Asked the guy to show us the way, as I could not believe nobody was eating at this place; he greeted and showed us the cafe area and gave us the menu.
You know you are in an art gallery when the menu is a piece of painted canvas and the tablecloth is a piece of paper with the signature of previous visitors. Inspecting the menu we found a lot of delicious dishes but a price tag equally delicious (to the owners) but accessible depending on what you consider affordable (for us, around Dubai we considered affordable a meal of 30 to 40 dirhams... or $13 to $15).
We ordered a bowl of parsnip chips (fries) and a pomegranate salad. Waited 5 minutes and our food arrived, very carefully arranged. It was beautiful to look at and so tasty.
The salad was fresh, the sweet flavours of the mustard were playful with some of the sourness of the salad with a surprise release of a pomegranate grain. It was very well balanced. The parsnip chips were great, good amount of salt and pepper to give you that change of piece between the sweetness of the parsnip crust and the delicate flavour inside.
At atmosphere is so relaxing, the buildings so accepting and inviting that you forget you are in Dubai. In my mind, we were transported to one of those fairy tales of the Arabian nights. We even considered changing our accommodation to stay here, just to continue enjoying the amazing environment and the vibe impregnated in this space.
I could continue rambling on with every delightful second we spent there here and I would run out of qualificatives to express how good we felt here... But this is one of those things you need to visit it (open-minded) to experience it yourself. We truly loved it and hope more of the soul inhabiting this place goes around Dubai to give it more spirit and uniqueness than the soulless concrete jungle around most of the known expensive hotels.
Walking eastbound from the Al Fahidi Fort (Dubai Museum) and into the old town surrounded by so many things to see, you will find the XVA Art Hotel. We found it by pure luck as it was not referenced on anything that we had bookmarked that day to visit. In fact, we didn't have it at all on the list of things to see. It was those sorts of opportunities where you say 'How about we just walk down this maze to take a couple of pictures... I am bored of all these buildings, this looks a tad different...' and 10 minutes later you find this inviting door, you look in and there are a series of empty tables shaded with lino cloth roofing and a beautiful green tree and dried roses hanging off it.
How in the world could you turn and walk away from this? To us, this is what made the middle east so charming and appealing to visit (more than the soulless mega buildings).
We stayed, capturing every inch with our camera just to find one of the guys from reception looking at us, saying "inspiring, isn't it? Are you guys hungry? or just want to take pictures?"
I had no idea of the menu or the prices, but a look at my wife told me, we are having dinner here. Asked the guy to show us the way, as I could not believe nobody was eating at this place; he greeted and showed us the cafe area and gave us the menu.
You know you are in an art gallery when the menu is a piece of painted canvas and the tablecloth is a piece of paper with the signature of previous visitors. Inspecting the menu we found a lot of delicious dishes but a price tag equally delicious (to the owners) but accessible depending on what you consider affordable (for us, around Dubai we considered affordable a meal of 30 to 40 dirhams... or $13 to $15).
We ordered a bowl of parsnip chips (fries) and a pomegranate salad. Waited 5 minutes and our food arrived, very carefully arranged. It was beautiful to look at and so tasty.
The salad was fresh, the sweet flavours of the mustard were playful with some of the sourness of the salad with a surprise release of a pomegranate grain. It was very well balanced. The parsnip chips were great, good amount of salt and pepper to give you that change of piece between the sweetness of the parsnip crust and the delicate flavour inside.
At atmosphere is so relaxing, the buildings so accepting and inviting that you forget you are in Dubai. In my mind, we were transported to one of those fairy tales of the Arabian nights. We even considered changing our accommodation to stay here, just to continue enjoying the amazing environment and the vibe impregnated in this space.
I could continue rambling on with every delightful second we spent there here and I would run out of qualificatives to express how good we felt here... But this is one of those things you need to visit it (open-minded) to experience it yourself. We truly loved it and hope more of the soul inhabiting this place goes around Dubai to give it more spirit and uniqueness than the soulless concrete jungle around most of the known expensive hotels.
Written 10 April 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Life_0f_Pie
Trossachs, UK193 contributions
Dec 2012 • Couples
Although XVA has original artwork on display, we were drawn inside for lunch. Hidden in the Bastakia area of Dubai and a short distance from the museum, XVA is actually a place to stay.
A restored house built in the old wind tower style, its inner courtyard is shaded both by a fig tree and canopies of cloth stretched across the balconies.
Hummus and muttabel were both good and served with warm pitta bread. The soft background music (cello concerto) was accompanied in an odd, but somehow pleasant, way by the call to prayer of the muezzin at the nearby beautiful white Bastakia mosque.
A restored house built in the old wind tower style, its inner courtyard is shaded both by a fig tree and canopies of cloth stretched across the balconies.
Hummus and muttabel were both good and served with warm pitta bread. The soft background music (cello concerto) was accompanied in an odd, but somehow pleasant, way by the call to prayer of the muezzin at the nearby beautiful white Bastakia mosque.
Written 11 December 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Manish K
Dubai, United Arab Emirates3 993 contributions
Mar 2018 • Solo
The XVA Gallery is part of a hotel and cafe in the historic Bastakia area of Bur Dubai. One can pop in for around 10-15 minutes to just see the art forms and paintings (these are quite good and one need not stay here to access these).
Ideally, one can combine a quick art tour with a snack or two at the nice cafe they have. In all, one can spend around 30-45 minutes here.
Ideally, one can combine a quick art tour with a snack or two at the nice cafe they have. In all, one can spend around 30-45 minutes here.
Written 12 May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Schipa
New York City, NY157 contributions
Mar 2017 • Friends
We dropped into the Gallery to see an extremely interesting art exhibition. We saw that there was a interesting looking cafe/restaurant in a beautiful old courtyard and decided to give it a try. What a spectacular surprise. There were three of us--hardened foodies one and all--and we were blown away. I had something called an “eggplant burger” in which two eggplant “buns” enfolded a tomato/feta stack. None of us was sure how they managed to prepare the eggplant, but all agreed it was the best and most interesting eggplant preparation we had ever had. Truly brilliant. My friends had an al-salad, which seemed to be a mixture of several sorts of salads, but it was incredibly yummy. The last dish was a haloumi/spinach dish that was also superb. I’m not sure that, it being a gallery, they would appreciate people just coming in for the food, but their particular combination of food and art is definitely worth seeking out.
Written 17 March 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rmcc83
Seixal, Portugal2 498 contributions
Jan 2015 • Business
I haven't been here for a few months now, but first of all is an amazing space in the middle of Dubai and specially in the middle of the Al Fahidi district.
This gallery is inside the XVA hotel and it is a very dynamic gallery, you will find beautiful art pieces from arabic artists.
And while you are there take a few minutes to seat in their café and relax while having a lemon mint juice.
This is a gallery in an old traditional arabic house which make it extra special.
This gallery is inside the XVA hotel and it is a very dynamic gallery, you will find beautiful art pieces from arabic artists.
And while you are there take a few minutes to seat in their café and relax while having a lemon mint juice.
This is a gallery in an old traditional arabic house which make it extra special.
Written 1 September 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
zignekr
Dubai, United Arab Emirates234 contributions
May 2023 • Couples
XVA gallery is hidden away in the old part of the Dubai. It is an art gallery with a cost cafe and restaurant. I recommend coming in just to see the artwork. Not sure how frequently it’s changed but we really enjoyed some of the art installations by local artists.
I am surprised this place is not more popular..
I am surprised this place is not more popular..
Written 13 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bahar
Dubai, United Arab Emirates146 contributions
Aug 2020 • Couples
Its quite artistic place to visit! I loved Eggplant burger and spicy rice.😍 Walking through historical neighborhood will take you to Dubai 19th century 😍 Sitting under the tree and enjoying your food sounds like a good plan 👍🏻
This charming little place serves mostly vegetarian menu which is very tasty for everyone!
This charming little place serves mostly vegetarian menu which is very tasty for everyone!
Written 12 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pontus271
Gothenburg, Sweden32 contributions
Jan 2019
The XVA gallery in Dubai is a little gem very different from the rest of Dubai with its tranquility, nice exhibits and great food in its cosy little restaurant.
Written 8 February 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alex W
50 contributions
Feb 2017 • Business
Yep. A little gem in part of town that's pretty soulless otherwise. Quaint & cultured the way it should be not in a tourist way
We stopped for breakfast after wading through some pretty ghastly junk shop streets. Lovely covered courtyard, artwork ... not expensive
Scrambled eggs pretty good
My vegan companion said the fresh foul (not the mushy kind) was very good. Excellent fresh fruit & orange juice
We stopped for breakfast after wading through some pretty ghastly junk shop streets. Lovely covered courtyard, artwork ... not expensive
Scrambled eggs pretty good
My vegan companion said the fresh foul (not the mushy kind) was very good. Excellent fresh fruit & orange juice
Written 25 February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Is there parking available? If so, please give the exact location. Many thanks
Written 13 January 2019
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