421 Arts Campus Announces 2026 Artist Residency Program Cohort
Six artists join 421’s Artist Residency Program, a key capability-building initiative for emerging practitioners across the UAE and the wider SWANA region.
Left to right: Alina El-Assadi; Reem Hamed; Roudha Al Mazrouei; Mayar Obeido; Yoonsik Chico Park; and Ali Talaat.
Abu Dhabi, UAE - 421 Arts Campus, the independent arts platform in Abu Dhabi dedicated to supporting emerging artists and creative practitioners from the UAE and the wider Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region, has announced the artists selected for its 2026 Artist Residency Program, following on from an open call for applications.
The initiative forms part of 421’s long-standing commitment to nurturing emerging voices through mentorship, research, and collaborative exchange. By providing artists with time, resources, and a supportive environment to experiment and develop their work, the program plays an important role in strengthening the UAE’s creative ecosystem and fostering the next generation of cultural practitioners.
The Artist Residency Program offers artists dedicated studio space, mentorship, and opportunities for research and experimentation over several months. Designed to support practitioners with a need for studio space, the residency encourages participants to deepen and develop their material practices, while engaging with 421’s wider creative community.
Spring Cohort (February – June 2026):
Roudhah Al Mazrouei (b. 2003, Al Ain) is an Abu Dhabi-based visual artist and researcher whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, film, and public art. Her work engages with cultural memory, ecological symbiosis, and archival preservation within the UAE.
Mayar Obeido (b. 1995, Damascus) is a visual artist working across painting, drawing, and sculpture. Often interacting with everyday objects, his practice explores psychological transformation through figures that function as emotional self-portraits, with a particular focus on the mutual visual influence between objects.
Ali Talaat (b. 1995) is an Egyptian artist and researcher working between art and architecture, exploring how copying allows ideas, objects, and spaces to move across contexts, reshaping authorship, ownership, and value.
Fall Cohort (July – November 2026)
Alina El-Assadi (b. 1999, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian-Palestinian artist based between Abu Dhabi and Sharjah working across photography, installation, sculpture, and moving image. Her work explores identity, belonging, and narrative through the interplay between fiction and lived histories.
Reem Hamed (b. 1996, Dubai) is a poet and visual artist working across sound, photography, text, clay, and performance. Her interdisciplinary practice explores movement, stillness, and emotional transition.
Yoonsik Chico Park (b. 1998, Seoul) works across performance, installation, sculpture, and image. His practice explores personal agency and existential tension through staged encounters with found objects, ritual, gesture, and silence.
Faisal Al Hassan, Director of 421 Arts Campus, says: “The Artist Residency Program at 421 Arts Campus reflects our commitment to supporting artists by creating the conditions for focused research and experimentation without the pressure of an expected outcome. We enable practitioners to take risks, refine their ideas, and build connections that extend beyond the residency itself. It’s through this open-ended support that new artistic voices and practices can meaningfully evolve.”