Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi Announces Curatorial Team and Locations for Second Edition of Manar Abu Dhabi

Led by Artistic Director Khai Hori, the biannual light art exhibition returns this November to illuminate the emirate under the theme 'The Light Compass' 

• Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the exhibition's second edition will take place in Abu Dhabi City from 15 November 2025 to 4 January 2026.
• For the first time, Manar Abu Dhabi will extend to include Al Ain Region, with its locations in the city open to the public from 1 November 2025.
• Under the theme 'The Light Compass', this edition is curated by Artistic Director Khai Hori and will feature 19 light-based installations, including newly commissioned works by Emirati and international artists.
• Jubail Island will be the heart of the exhibition as its central and most iconic venue.
• A dynamic public programme of talks, workshops, and performances will accompany the exhibition, offering visitors opportunities to engage more deeply with the artworks. 
• Manar Abu Dhabi is part of the Public Art Abu Dhabi initiative, DCT Abu Dhabi's ongoing commitment to enhancing the emirate's urban fabric through public art.
• Further details, including the full artist lineup and accompanying programme, will be shared in due course.

ABU DHABI, UAE, Sept. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on the success of its inaugural edition, Manar Abu Dhabi will once again illuminate the archipelagos, mangroves and oases of Abu Dhabi from 15 November 2025 to 4 January 2026. Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), this public light art exhibition aims to inspire creativity and celebrate the emirate's unique natural landscapes.

Under the theme 'The Light Compass', this edition will feature 19 newly commissioned works and site-specific light sculptures, projections and immersive installations by Emirati and international artists. Manar Abu Dhabi 2025 is curated by Khai Hori, Artistic Director, who was previously Deputy Director of Artistic Programming at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Senior Curator at the Singapore Art Museum, where he oversaw Singapore's national collection of contemporary art, and Senior Curator in the Curatorial Development department at the National Heritage Board in Singapore. The exhibition is co-curated by Alia Zaal Lootah, Curator; Munira Al Sayegh; Curator; and Mariam Alshehhi, Assistant Curator.  

Drawing on the Gulf's ancestral relationship with light, this edition of Manar Abu Dhabi brings together contemporary artworks that respond to its presence, behaviour, and resonance across both natural and technological forms and expressions. As the theme 'The Light Compass' suggests, light is situated as both guide and medium, from contextualising its traditions of navigation in orienting seafarers and desert nomads to instigating poetic modes of knowledge and communication through its ephemerality. Set across Abu Dhabi's diverse landscapes, Manar Abu Dhabi will unfold across mangroves, sandbanks, oases and urban edges, where artworks form a breathing constellation and become a living map shaped by reflection and relation.

Jubail Island will serve as the centre stage for Manar Abu Dhabi 2025, anchoring this year's expanded edition. Alongside an exciting rollout across other city locations, for the first time the exhibition will extend to the city of Al Ain Region, reflecting the festival's growing cultural footprint across the region. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Al Ain Region's backdrop of lush oases and ancient archaeological sites offers a dramatically different landscape from the coastal archipelagos and mangroves of the capital. Light-based installations from Manar Abu Dhabi will engage with the unique terrains of Al Qattara and Al Jimi Oases—green sanctuaries nestled within the city's desert topography, sustained by ancient aflaj irrigation systems—illuminating the enduring connections between water, land, and life. The installations in Al Ain Region will be on display from 1 November to coincide with the ongoing Traditional Handicrafts Festival.

As part of Public Art Abu Dhabi's ongoing commitment to enhancing the emirate's public spaces through art, a dynamic public programme of talks, workshops, and performances will accompany the exhibition, offering visitors meaningful opportunities to engage with the artworks.

About Manar Abu Dhabi

Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), Manar Abu Dhabi is a public light art exhibition that aims to foster creativity and celebrate the emirate's landscapes.

About the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi:

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi's culture and tourism sectors and its creative industries, fuelling economic progress and helping to achieve Abu Dhabi's wider global ambitions.

By working in partnership with the organisations that define the emirate's position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of the emirate's potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture and tourism.

DCT Abu Dhabi's vision is defined by the emirate's people, heritage and landscape. We work to enhance Abu Dhabi's status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought.

For more information about the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and the destination, please visit: dct.gov.ae and abudhabiculture.ae

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