Dubai plans Museum of Digital Art and its digital twin

Dubai has announced a five-floor Museum of Digital Art inside the Dubai International Financial Centre's Zabeel District expansion.

Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, launched the project on May 16, accompanied by Essa Kazim, governor of DIFC. The announcement describes the museum, known as MODA, as the first in the region devoted to digital art and new technologies.

"In an increasingly digital world, museums must not only preserve heritage but also reimagine how culture is accessed and shared across generations and geographies," Sheikha Latifa said.

DIFC will lead the museum's development while Dubai Culture will run its operations and set its cultural direction. The announcement does not say who will fund construction, the building cost, opening date, leadership, or if the museum will have a permanent collection.

The building is being designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the Chicago firm founded in 2006 by Adrian Smith, Gordon Gill and Robert Forest after they left Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Smith designed the Burj Khalifa as a design partner at SOM, before the firm existed.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the Zabeel District in January as a 7.1 million-square-foot site with a gross development value DIFC estimated above 100 billion dirhams, about $27.2 billion.

The district is being built in six phases. Public access is expected in 2030, with the full masterplan scheduled for completion in 2040. The January masterplan included an art pavilion. The May announcement does not say if the museum is that pavilion or a separate building.

The museum announcement came on the second day of the 20th edition of Art Dubai, held May 15 to 17 at Madinat Jumeirah after organizers pushed the fair back a month due to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. That edition included more than 45 exhibitors, down from roughly 120 expected before the war, Urgent Matter previously reported.

World Art Dubai, a separate fair, moved its 2026 edition from April to November 19–22 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Expo City, citing travel and market conditions, Urgent Matter previously reported.

Arif Amiri, chief executive of DIFC Authority and chairman of Art Dubai, tied the museum to a new arts strategy the center says will guide its cultural programming for the next 20 years.

"This launches a new cultural chapter for us, with the Museum of Digital Art serving as a key cultural anchor within the district's mixed-use expansion, DIFC Zabeel District," Amiri said.

That strategy combines DIFC's existing programs — Sculpture Park, Art Nights and the Satellite Gallery — into a single year-round calendar and will govern future commissions and exhibitions, according to the announcement. DIFC has not published the strategy document.

The museum plans to build a "digital twin" allowing audiences outside Dubai to interact with its exhibitions remotely, and to add educational spaces for what the announcement calls skills development. It gives no timeline for either.

"The museum is an interactive space where creativity meets advanced technology, fostering innovation among artists and giving them the room to develop ideas and strengthen their place in the cultural landscape," said Hala Badri, director general of Dubai Culture.

The project joins a queue of cultural institutions that have been announced but have not yet been built—most notably the planned Dubai Museum of Art, designed by Tadao Ando, announced in October 2025.

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