Frieze Abu Dhabi has announced the first edition of its Talks Programme, a series of six conversations staged across the inaugural fair from 19 to 21 November in the theatre at Manarat Al Saadiyat. The programme brings together artists, curators, museum directors and patrons to discuss the fair and wider questions facing the art world, with interpretation in English and Arabic and admission on a first-come, first-served basis.

The opening session takes place on the VIP preview day, Thursday 19 November, when Michael Govan, chief executive and director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, joins Eugene Tan, director of the National Gallery Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum, to discuss building the global museum, in a conversation moderated by Kate Fowle of the Hearthland Foundation. On Friday 20 November, artist and filmmaker Akram Zaatari talks with curator Ute Meta Bauer about displacement and the geometry of loss, in a session presented by the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, before curators Cosmin Costinas and Kelli Cole discuss curating across knowledge systems with Claudia Segura of MACBA Barcelona.

Saturday 21 November closes the programme with three sessions: Costas Paraskevaides and Alex de Moller on the Indian Ocean art market, moderated by Marika Sardar, curator of the fair's Frieze Masters section; artists Mohammed Kazem and Alia Zaal in dialogue with curator Munira Al Sayegh; and artists Ala Younis and Mohammed Joha on the fair's Global Futures section with its curator, Tarini Malik.

The talks form part of the first Frieze Abu Dhabi, which runs from 19 to 22 November at Manarat Al Saadiyat with more than 80 galleries from 37 countries and regions. The fair is Frieze's first in West Asia, North Africa and South Asia, and takes over the venue and government partnership built up by its predecessor, Abu Dhabi Art.