You can now tour Alserkal Avenue's art galleries virtually – and buy the art online

The online platform, developed after the art hub cancelled its annual Galleries Night, has more than 300 artworks on view

Lubna Chowdhary's work of glazed ceramics titled 'Captain of My Spaceship' is one of the works available for viewing online through Alserkal Avenue's new virtual platform. Courtesy the artist and Green Art Gallery, Dubai

Affan Baghpati, 'Flower', on view at 1x1 Art Gallery via the Alserkal online platform. Courtesy 1x1 Art Gallery

A work by Mohamed Melehi. Courtesy Alserkal

Maheen Ausaf, 'Supplementary weft', part of 1x1 Art Gallery's group show. Courtesy 1x1 Art Gallery

Emirati artist Lamya Gargash presents a new body of work at The Third Line. Courtesy The Third Line and Alserkal 

Kamrooz Aram's works are part of a group show at Green Art Gallery. Courtesy the artist and Green Art Gallery, Dubai

Andre Butzer's 'Untitled', on view at Carbon 12. Courtesy Carbon 12 and Alserkal

The works of Mohamed Melehi will be available on Alserkal Avenue's online platform. Courtesy Alserkal

Kamrooz Aram's 'Ornamental Composition'. Courtesy the artist and Green Art Gallery, Dubai

Ebtisam Abdulaziz's 'Focal Illusion' will be on view at alserkal.online. Courtesy DCT Abu Dhabi

Aljoud Lootah’s Falak at Al Burda Endowment exhibition, Abu Dhabi Art. The show's iteration in Dubai will be shown on Alserkal's online platform. Reem Mohammed / The National

Lubna Chowdhary's 'Certain Times XXV'. Courtesy the artist and Green Art Gallery, Dubai

Sliman Mansour's 'Revolution was the Beginning', one of the guest projects for Alserkal Avenue's march programme. Courtesy Alserkal

A preview of Alserkal Avenue's online platform, which becomes available to the public on Monday evening. Courtesy Alserkal Avenue

Alserkal Avenue has today launched an online platform with virtual tours of its contemporary art galleries.

On the website, which will open its digital doors at 7pm on Monday, March 23, visitors can conduct a 360-degree walkthrough of the current exhibitions inside the galleries, and click on tags that show artwork details and will also direct visitors to the website Artsy, where collectors can purchase pieces online.

There are also informative videos from gallerists discussing the works.

Highlights from the repository include the show New Waves: Mohamed Melehi and the Casablanca Art School Archives, which features the work of Moroccan artist Mohamed Melehi alongside other important figures in Arab modernist art.

The works of Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem are on view at Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde; a solo show by Michael John Whelan is on view at Grey Noise; and The Third Line presents new works by Lamya Gargash. There is also the group show for the Al Burda Endowment Exhibition, which opened during Abu Dhabi Art in November and has now travelled to Dubai.

The shows were originally intended to open during Galleries Night, a yearly event that brings together artists, curators and collectors visiting for the March art season in the UAE. However, concerns over the continued spread of the coronavirus caused the arts organisation to suspend its programming on March 14. In a statement about the closure, Alserkal director Vilma Jurkute said: "What has come out of these past few weeks is that each of us has a role to play in limiting the spread of this virus ... As a community, we are conscious of our responsibility to safeguard our audiences as well as our fellow community members."

In that same week, Abu Dhabi’s cultural attractions such as Louvre Abu Dhabi and Cultural Foundation also temporarily closed. Art spaces such as Dubai's Tashkeel and Sharjah's Warehouse 421 and Sharjah Art Foundation also followed suit.

Since then, the UAE has taken stricter measures to contain Covid-19, including closing down malls and grounding passenger flights for two weeks on Monday. At the time of writing, the UAE has 198 confirmed cases and two deaths from the disease; 41 people have recovered from the virus in the country.

Other players in the UAE art scene are also looking to go digital as social distancing measures become more stringent. Art Dubai, for example, has also reconfigured its programme to produce more digitally oriented experiences.

These include an online catalogue of the works that were meant to be shown at the fair, plus a broadcast special of the Global Art Forum on Tuesday, March 24 and a virtual performance programme curated by Marina Fokidis. Institutions such as Jameel Arts Centre have also adopted additional online and social media initiatives – including sharing educational resources and uploading artist videos – to engage with audiences.