Celebrating 10 Years: ‘Rays, Ripples, Residue’ at Abu Dhabi’s 421 Arts Campus
Assalamu alaikum - Abu Dhabi’s 421 Arts Campus marks its 10th anniversary on Nov. 15 after supporting over 1,500 creative practitioners, commissioning many new works, and running roughly 2,000 programs, residencies, grants, and exhibitions across the city.
To celebrate, the campus is presenting “Rays, Ripples, Residue,” open from Nov. 1 to April 16. The show is curated by Emirati Munira Al-Sayegh, Lebanese editor Nadine Khalil, and Sharjah-born writer Murtaza Vali, and looks at how art practices and exhibition-making in the UAE have changed over the past decade.
The exhibition includes new commissions alongside earlier works and fresh iterations of existing pieces. It’s arranged in three chapters. Al-Sayegh’s section, “Leading to the Middle,” focuses on small moments - the ripples that are easy to miss - which create space for younger generations of artists to grow. She looks at the practices of established figures like Emirati Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim and the late Kuwaiti artist Tarek Al-Ghoussein.
Khalil’s chapter, “Ghosts of Arrival,” offers an intimate look at what it feels like to arrive after a moment has passed, featuring artists such as Hashel Al-Lamki, Mona Ayyash, and Nadine Ghandour. Khalil highlights artists from the past decade whose work was shaped by creations from the decade before, and the section doubles as a reflection on her own arrival in the country in 2017.
Vali’s “SUN” surveys the last 10 years and points to a recurring focus among local artists on the sun - both as symbol and physical reality. The works, made roughly between 2015 and now, use the sun to explore themes like environmental decline, the pressures of commercialization, and rapid urban growth.
It’s a meaningful anniversary for the arts community here, and the exhibition sounds like a thoughtful way to reflect on how things have developed while looking ahead to what comes next.
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