Upon arriving in Dubai in 2003, Isabelle de Caters began a journey shaped by intuition, risk, and cultural urgency. Her frequent travels to Iran revealed a vibrant but constrained art scene, and she became a bridge between voices seeking expression and a region ready to listen. With no fixed venue, she staged exhibitions in borrowed spaces—an apartment in Dubai Marina, a majlis in Bastakiya, even her own home. In 2006, she founded B21 Gallery, among the UAE’s first contemporary art spaces. By 2010, Gallery IVDE was launched in Alserkal Avenue, where she championed a bold, pluralistic program centered on the authenticity of artistic expression—free from identity labels or expectations.
Committed to the artists’ journeys, de Caters combined rigorous exhibitions with publishing and international visibility, contributing significantly to the region’s cultural narrative. By 2022, after over a hundred exhibitions, she announced a 'gap year'—not a pause, but a metamorphosis.
When the gallery reopened, now co-led with Director Jad Karam, it returned not as a traditional space, but as Gallery Isabelle—a fluid, adaptive platform. No longer simply a gallery, it is an evolving organism merging residencies, publishing, performance, and conversations. Less fixed, more alive.