Inloco Gallery has concluded its annual public art conference, Inloco Talks 2025 that brought focus to how artistic interventions are redefining cultural, social, and spatial narratives across cities in the Gulf.
Hosted at Al Safa Art & Design Library in Dubai, the conference convened leading voices from across the region to examine the evolving relationship between artistic practice and urban space. Across three sessions, speakers probed the role of institutions in advancing public art, the long-term cultural shifts sparked by temporary and time-based art events, and the place of public art within urban planning and cultural strategy. The discussions underscored the importance of cross-sector collaboration between artists, curators, urbanists, policymakers, and cultural producers.
“In a region where we’re still shifting, moving, and shaping who we are and how we talk about ourselves, events like Inloco Talks are especially important. They bring together different practitioners to discuss ideas that might otherwise remain informal, the kind we would share only around a coffee table. Holding these conversations in a public library allows audience members to not only hear the topics we are addressing, but also learn about the work each of us does individually. There is always value in creating spaces for sharing and for meaningful public engagement.”
Laila Binbrek, Director of the National Pavilion UAE at the Venice Biennale, Speaker at Inloco Talks 2025
Participants included some of the region’s most influential cultural leaders, practitioners, and thinkers: Dunja Gottweis, Director of Art Dubai; Laila Binbrek, Director of the National Pavilion UAE at the Venice Biennale; Ahmad Al Rashid, Senior Programming and Cultural Events Manager at Al Shindagha Museum, whose dynamic moderation opened the program; Sanaz Askari, Cultural Strategist and Independent Curator; Moath Alofi, Associate Director of Creative Production at Diriyah Gate Development Authority; and Dr. Khaled Alawadi, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Urbanism at Khalifa University and a longstanding Inloco collaborator on public art and urban research — among many others.
Set against the backdrop of Dubai’s rapidly evolving urban landscape, Inloco Talks 2025 illustrated how artistic interventions can become tools of interdisciplinary dialogue and transformation offering new ways to think about place, memory, and belonging. Through these conversations, the conference reinforced its role as a vital platform for advancing the public art discourse in the UAE, supporting a more inclusive cultural dialogue, and fostering active collaboration across artistic, cultural, and urban fields.