Arabic calligraphy took an unexpected turn in China, where millennia-old traditions of ink and brush gave it an entirely new face, and the Chinese brush began to speak Arabic.

From a pearl pulled from the seabed 8,000 years ago to a necklace that once graced the neck of the Arab world’s greatest singer, the Zayed National Museum traces the stories of this land, its people, and their connections with the wider world.

In an era where religion is often wielded to incite division, the Abrahamic Family House is an argument — in concrete and light — that another way is possible and already standing.

Abu Dhabi tells its story through ancient fortresses, world-class museums, and sacred sanctuaries, and all you have to do is start wandering.

Sharjah, named the cultural capital of the Arab world, is a city where heritage refuses to stay behind glass. It moves through its streets, slips through its souqs, and settles into the qahwa offered before you’ve thought to ask.

Every city has a version of itself that doesn’t make the highlight reel. In Dubai, that version is shaped by art, culture, and a heritage far older than its highrises.

As you wander from chased metalwork to marble inlay, from jade carvings to exquisite jewellery, and into miniature paintings that seem to hold the whole world in the width of your palm, Treasures of the Mughal Court leaves today’s creatives with an inexhaustible well of inspiration.

A landmark exhibition on Islamic art, Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire shows how a sultanate turned authority into artistry: the precision of metalwork, the confidence of calligraphy, and a design language of its own.

During Sharjah’s Islamic Arts Festival, the city becomes an open-air museum, where visitors can immerse themselves in the beauty of Islamic art while wandering through hidden cultural spaces scattered across Sharjah.

Women calligraphers in Taiwan have been walking their own paths. For too long, their presence went unnoticed, until a recent exhibition brings it into view.