Art Here 2025

The fifth edition of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here exhibition, featuring six artworks by seven artists shortlisted for the Richard Mille Art Prize, has been curated by guest curator Sophie Mayuko Arni under the theme Shadows – “exploring the interplay between light and absence, visibility and concealment, and the layered dimensions of memory, identity, and transformation”.

This year’s edition invited proposals from artists based in the GCC and Japan, along with artists from the MENA region with a GCC connection. There were more than 400 submissions, from which six were shortlisted for the Richard Mille Art Prize; the winner will be announced in December.

The exhibits:

I remember a light: sculpture by Palestinian architect, artist, and researcher Ahmed Alaqra that reimagines shadows as urban traces, referencing the traditional mashrabiya lattice screen. Made of stacked acrylic cubes containing 3D-printed shapes from shadow photographs of Sharjah, the sculpture transforms fleeting encounters of light and architecture into enduring sculptural artifacts.

Echo: an interactive light installation by Emirati artist and musician Jumairy. Visitors encounter a still water pond, a single flower, and ambient sound; reimagining the myth of Echo and Narcissus, the work uses light and shadow to transform absence into intimacy and invite a deeper encounter with memory and the unconscious.

skadw: an immersive audiovisual installation of light, fog, and sound by Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa. Shadows are transformed into sculptural form; a single beam cuts through shifting mist, creating ever-changing patterns of shadow and resonance. Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ma, the beauty of negative space, the work invites viewers into a meditative environment where absence becomes presence.

Tree Studies: the Kuwaiti-Pakistani artist Hamra Abbas has an installation of 31 stone inlay sculptures inspired by trees found in Pakistan and in the UAE, including olive, pomegranate, and cherry. Using her distinctive lapis-on-lapis technique to create shadow-like foliage, the works balance realism and abstraction.

A Sundial for the Night Without End: a sculptural sundial conceived for a world after the sun by Japanese artist Rintaro Fuse. Formed from polished stainless steel, the work reflects its surroundings while aligning three gnomons to past, present, and future North Stars. Installed beneath the museum’s dome, it transforms cosmic time into a meditation on memory, absence, and the persistence of eternity.

Dancing shadows: a pavilion of swaying stainless-steel mesh, inspired by traditional Kawachi weaving. Supported by slender columns, the structure creates shifting patterns of shadow and light. Using recycled industrial material, the architect duo YOKOMAE et BOUAYAD (Takuma Yokomae from Japan and Ghali Bouayad from Morocco) have created an installation that blends Tokyo and Marrakesh design traditions, offering a poetic space where architecture moves like nature.

To 28 December.