16 July 2025

Pencil In

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A writers’ group intended for writers to practice their craft without the pressures of producing a final outcome, designed to provide a supportive environment for writers to write alone yet in a group. You're invited to polish your writing skills [ ... ]

Free

Pencil In

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A writers’ group intended for writers to practice their craft without the pressures of producing a final outcome, designed to provide a supportive environment for writers to write alone yet in a group. You're invited to polish your writing skills [ ... ]

Free

Unstable Grounds: 2025 MFA Graduate Exhibition

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

For the fourth time, this exhibition shows work by students completing the two-year Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media at NYUAD – Dima Abou Zannad, Bao, Adele Bea Cipste, Hala El Abora, Mowen Li (Amira), Jude Maharmeh, Safeya [ ... ]

Free

Ana Escobar Saavedra: It Starts Where It Ends

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Ana Escobar Saavedra has a cross-disciplinary creative practice working on the frontiers of craft, art and design. Born and bred in Colombia, she is now established in the UAE; for the last few years, she has combined a personal studio [ ... ]

Free

Performance Co/Lab

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An ongoing programme of performance exercises such as contact improvisation, breath work, acting warm-ups, games, and techniques aimed at "performing artists, creatives, and curious individuals looking to explore movement practices. Instructors are multidisciplinary theatre artist and game designer Carlos Páez [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Collected Histories: Personal Archives and Documentation

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Collected Histories, a project co-founded by Hind Mezaina and Jasmine Soliman, aims to foster discussion on personal documentation and archiving "with an ultimate goal of inspiring and supporting individuals to become ‘citizen archivists’ by cataloguing, and exploring ways to self-publish [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Collected Histories: Personal Archives and Documentation

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Collected Histories, a project co-founded by Hind Mezaina and Jasmine Soliman, aims to foster discussion on personal documentation and archiving "with an ultimate goal of inspiring and supporting individuals to become ‘citizen archivists’ by cataloguing, and exploring ways to self-publish [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

LAST CHANCE Alla Abdunabi: Are your memories of me enough for you?

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Alla Abdunabi’s first solo exhibition presents a new body of work that critiques and engages with simulacra, a concept used in philosophy and cultural studies to analyse how symbols shape our perceptions of what is accepted as “real.” Alla Abdunabi [ ... ]

Free

LAST CHANCE Abdullah Al Saadi: Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An exhibition of ten works by the influential Khor Fakkan artist, one of the “Pioneer Five” who bolstered the contemporary art scene in the UAE in the 1980s and influenced a generation of artists in the region. Curated by Tarek [ ... ]

Free

Fragments from Heaven: dir Adnane Baraka (2022)

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

In the bleak emptiness of the Moroccan desert, a nomad shepherd called Mohamed lives in a tent with his family. His way of life is disappearing; the land is so dry (presumably as a result of climate change) that there [ ... ]

Free

Pencil In

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A writers’ group intended for writers to practice their craft without the pressures of producing a final outcome, designed to provide a supportive environment for writers to write alone yet in a group. You're invited to polish your writing skills [ ... ]

Free

Performance Co/Lab

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An ongoing programme of performance exercises such as contact improvisation, breath work, acting warm-ups, games, and techniques aimed at "performing artists, creatives, and curious individuals looking to explore movement practices. Instructors are multidisciplinary theatre artist and game designer Carlos Páez [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Pencil In

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A writers’ group intended for writers to practice their craft without the pressures of producing a final outcome, designed to provide a supportive environment for writers to write alone yet in a group. You're invited to polish your writing skills [ ... ]

Free

Performance Soiree: 421 Performance Co//ective Showcase

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Performance Co//ective’s first showcase, featuring performances by the programme’s first cohort. These works, co-facilitated by Mary Chase and Carlos Paez Gonzalez, are the culmination of months of exploration in movement, writing, vocal expression, and more. Afterwards there's an opportunity to [ ... ]

Free

Pencil In

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A writers’ group intended for writers to practice their craft without the pressures of producing a final outcome, designed to provide a supportive environment for writers to write alone yet in a group. You're invited to polish your writing skills [ ... ]

Free

Block Barty

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

"Better than the art afterparty" claims 421. "We’re ramping up the art season with pop-up vendors, independent brands, eclectic workshops, diverse entertainment, neighbourhood walks, and obviously, more art ... Block Barty is for the 'art' people, the non-art art people, [ ... ]

Free

Performance Co/Lab

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An ongoing programme of performance exercises such as contact improvisation, breath work, acting warm-ups, games, and techniques aimed at "performing artists, creatives, and curious individuals looking to explore movement practices. Instructors are multidisciplinary theatre artist and game designer Carlos Páez [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Pencil In

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

We love this idea, and it's just the sort of thing that we'd hope for from an arts centre like 421. It's a writers’ group intended for writers to practice their craft without the pressures of producing a final outcome, [ ... ]

Free

Alla Abdunabi: Are your memories of me enough for you?

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Alla Abdunabi’s first solo exhibition presents a new body of work that critiques and engages with simulacra, a concept used in philosophy and cultural studies to analyse how symbols shape our perceptions of what is accepted as “real.” The work [ ... ]

Free

Abdullah Al Saadi: Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An exhibition of ten works by the influential Khor Fakkan artist, one of the “Pioneer Five” who bolstered the contemporary art scene in the UAE in the 1980s and influenced a generation of artists in the region. Curated by Tarek [ ... ]

Free

LAST CHANCE Way of the Forest

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This travelling edition of the Colomboscope arts festival features work by 19 artists from South Asia and Africa. Taking over Galleries 1 and 2 inside 421 Arts Campus, it focuses on interdependence, custodianship, and restorative practices across rainforests, wilderness, mountain [ ... ]

Free

Day 2 | Forest Cinema

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Three films selected from the two editions of Ghost, a triennial video and performance art series in Bangkok, that show how natural and manufactured subjects can haunt and possess novel forms of life and knowledge. Mangosteen dir Tulapop Saenjaroen (Thailand [ ... ]

Free

Day 1 | Forest Cinema

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Dharamshala International Film Festival has a peripatetic and constantly changing programme called DIFF On the Road, part of the festival’s mandate to build networks of cinematic solidarity and to extend the space for discourse around independent cinema. In keeping with [ ... ]

Free

Pencil In

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

We love this idea -- it's a writers’ group intended for writers to practice their craft without the pressures of producing a final outcome, designed to provide a supportive environment for writers to write alone yet in a group. You're [ ... ]

Free

Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial: Globalisto – a Symphony for a Community

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This listening session, performance, and talk draws on the philosophy of Globalisto – the interplay of sound, memory, and identity in diasporic communities – developed by multidisciplinary artist and curator Ntshepe Tsekere (DJ Mo Laudi). Field recordings and Afro-electronic compositions [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Performance Co/Lab

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An ongoing programme of performance exercises such as contact improvisation, breath work, acting warm-ups, games, and techniques aimed at "performing artists, creatives, and curious individuals looking to explore movement practices. Instructors are multidisciplinary theatre artist and game designer Carlos Páez [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Way of the Forest

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This travelling edition of the Colomboscope arts festival features work by 19 artists from South Asia and Africa. Taking over Galleries 1 and 2 inside 421 Arts Campus, it focuses on interdependence, custodianship, and restorative practices across rainforests, wilderness, mountain [ ... ]

Free

Closing Program: Spring 2024 Exhibitions

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Most exhibitions open with a bang and close with much less fanfare, so 421 is to be commended for marking the end of its current shows – Mona Ayyash: The Clock Doesn’t Care and On a Timeline: 2024 MFA Graduate [ ... ]

Free

LAST CHANCE On a Timeline: 2024 MFA Graduate Show

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Marking the third year of collaboration and an expanded partnership between 421 Arts Campus and NYUAD, the exhibition of work by students completing the two-year Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media at NYUAD showcases research and experimentation by [ ... ]

Free

LAST CHANCE Mona Ayyash: The Clock Doesn’t Care

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

In her first solo exhibition, Mona Ayyash presents a collaborative video piece with a group of actors, dancers, and performance artists, focusing on small body movements. Selected through an open call, the artist’s collaborators committed to a long-term creative process [ ... ]

Free

Uncharted Paths: DocuShorts in Focus

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An evening of short documentary films from the region, works by artists taking part in Image Nation Abu Dhabi's Arab Film Studios programme: Luminary: dir Nada Jahed Arabic, 9.5 mins A poetic portrait of a blind father who is strongly [ ... ]

Free

Performance Co/Lab

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

An open invitation to all performing artists, creatives, and curious individuals looking to explore movement practices: participants will explore performance exercises such as contact improvisation, breath work, acting warm-ups, games, and techniques. Each session will introduce new and unique exercises [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

On a Timeline: 2024 MFA Graduate Show

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Marking the third year of collaboration and an expanded partnership between 421 Arts Campus and NYUAD, this exhibition of work by students completing the two-year Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media at NYUAD showcases research and experimentation by [ ... ]

Free

Mona Ayyash: The Clock Doesn’t Care

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

For her first solo exhibition, the culmination of the artist's participation in the 2024 cycle of the 421 Artistic Development Program, Ayyash presents a collaborative video piece focusing on small body movements. Created with a group of actors, dancers, and [ ... ]

Free

LAST CHANCE Network Culture

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This exhibition presents projects by 12 of the participants in 421’s Homebound Residency Program, which ran annually from spring 2020 to fall 2023; it is both a celebration of the work produced during the programme and an acknowledgement of the [ ... ]

Free

LAST CHANCE Hana El-Sagini: Counting Fingers

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A solo exhibition that presents a newly commissioned large-scale installation rooted in the instability and fragility of the human experience — more than 200 fantastical ceramic objects arranged as surreal sculptures and structures that replicate and reimagine healthcare spaces, such [ ... ]

Free

Writers’ Suhoor

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Another of 421’s Ramadan specials – a gathering for wordsmiths to exchange writings, makes zines, and connect over food. “The perfect chance to share your experiences and exchange ideas while connecting with fellow writers who understand your unique journey ...” [ ... ]

Free, but pre-register

Film Lovers’ Suhoor and Trivia Night

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A late-night gathering for film fans under the stars – “a suhoor filled with favourite cinema moments, trivia challenges and connecting with other like-minded creatives”.  

Free, but pre-register

Culture Bus: Sikka Art and Design Festival

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A round trip to the Sikka Art and Design Festival for Abu Dhabi residents. You'll get three hours on site: 3.30pm: Depart from 421 5.30pm: Arrive at Sikka 8.30pm: Depart 10.30pm: Arrive at 421 Get there 10 minutes before departure [ ... ]

AED 30

All the Wild Things

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A weekend of regional films that explore the climate crisis, cureated for 421 by Cinema Akil. As well as . This expansive program includes film screenings, talks, workshops, activations, and family-friendly screenings too. The mini festival includes screening of feature-length [ ... ]

Free. but pre-register for individual screenings

Network Culture

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This exhibition presents projects by 12 of the participants in 421’s Homebound Residency Program, which ran annually from spring 2020 to fall 2023; it is both a celebration of the work produced during the programme and an acknowledgement of the [ ... ]

Free

Hana El-Sagini: Counting Fingers

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A solo exhibition that presents a newly commissioned large-scale installation rooted in the instability and fragility of the human experience — more than 200 fantastical ceramic objects arranged as surreal sculptures and structures that replicate and reimagine healthcare spaces, such [ ... ]

Free

Culture Bus: Art Dubai

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The excellent Culture Bus trip gives you the third and final day of Art Dubai (which is usually the quietest, so it's the best one for seeing art). You'll get three hours on site: 10.30am: Depart from 421 11.50pm: Arrive [ ... ]

AED 30

Culture Bus: Quoz Arts Festival

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The 2024 series of 421's Culture Bus trips from Abu Dhabi kicks off with a visit to the second day of Quoz Arts Fest. You'll get three hours on site: 2pm: Depart from 421 3.30pm: Arrive at Quoz Arts Fest [ ... ]

AED 30

Between Heaven and Earth: dir Najwa Najjar (2019)

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Salma and Tamer have been married for the past five years and living in the Palestinian Territory. As Tamer is given a three-day permit to cross the Israeli checkpoint to file for divorce in the courts of Nazareth, the couple [ ... ]

Free, but pre-regisrer and donate

Foragers: dir Jumana Manna (2022)

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Shot in the Golan Heights, the Galilee and Jerusalem, the film employs fiction, documentary and archival footage to capture the joy and knowledge embodied in the traditions of foraging for wild edible plants alongside the foragers' resilience in the face [ ... ]

Free, but pre-regisrer and donate

200 Meters: dir Amin Nayfeh (2019)

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Mustafa and his wife Salwa live 200 metres apart in villages separated by the Israeli wall. One day he gets a call every parent dreads: his son has had an accident. Rushing to cross the checkpoint, Mustafa is denied entry [ ... ]

Free, but pre-regisrer and donate

Alam: dir Firas Khoury (2022)

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Tamer and his friends lead typical high school students' lives until the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa.  As he grows closer to her, Tamer agrees to take part in a mysterious flag operation dubbed ‘Alam' on the eve of Israel's [ ... ]

Free, but pre-regisrer and donate

Asma Belhamar: Solid Void

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

This solo exhibition captures the tensions between shifting natural geographies and dynamic urban environments, featuring new works inspired by the UAE’s architectural history. It narrates the topographic evolution of the UAE, as influenced by Western classical modernity, contemporary traditionalism in [ ... ]

Free

Nine Nodes of Non-Being

421 Arts Campus Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A group exhibition with works by nine artists, thinkers, filmmakers, and researchers from East, South, Southeast Asia, the MENA region, and South America. Curated by Ritika Biswas, it conceives of climate-related extinction through various states of negation and excess emerging [ ... ]

Free