News

Learn more about our current and upcoming exhibitions, programs, and special events. 

September 2024

421 Arts Campus Announces Fall 2024 Program Focused on Environmental and Ecological Themes

Taking place from September 22 onwards, the Fall 2024 Program explores the healing power of nature and features a range of community-driven events.

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August 2024

421 Arts Campus Presents traveling edition of the arts festival Colomboscope ‘Way of the Forest’ Featuring 19 Artists from the Global South

Opening on September 22, the exhibition is an intricate study of our eroding ecological histories, of lost environmental wisdoms, monstrous developmental agendas, and ghosts of extraction.

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July 2024

New Cohort of Artists Announced for Capacity Building Programs at 421 Arts Campus

We are pleased to announces artists selected for the 2024-25 capacity building programs and two new open calls. The programs, which include the Artistic Development Program and the Residency Program, will give seven artists the opportunity to work on major projects that explore contemporary and critical issues related to the region. The seven selected artists are Alla Abdunabi, Juma Alhaj, and Ana Escobar, part of the 2025 Artistic Development Program; and Yousif Abdulsaid, Shama Al Hamed, Adrian Pepe, and Farah Soltani, who will be artists-in-residence from July to December 2024.

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July 2024

Our podcast ‘A Future in the Folds of the Past’ is back!

Our podcast ‘A Future in the Folds of the Past’ is back! Season three focuses on the role of art institutions, artists, and cultural practitioners in addressing the climate crisis. 

 

‘A Future in the Folds of the Past’ is the only Arabic-language podcast dedicated to contemporary visual arts in a documentary format. The series highlights the specific impacts of climate change on local communities, particularly vulnerable groups, and emphasizes on how art can serve as a powerful tool for storytelling and fostering dialogue around climate change.

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June 2024

421 Arts Campus Announces Summer 2024 Program Focused on Supporting Writers

Taking place from July 8 onwards, the Program titled Compositions presents two major exhibitions, workshops and special events, as well as the residency program, new podcast episodes, and a book release 

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March 2024

421 Arts Campus Announces Spring 2024 Exhibitions and Public Programs

Taking place from April 19 onwards, the Spring 2024 Program titled Reverberations features the New York University Abu Dhabi 2024 MFA Graduate Show, and an exhibition by Mona Ayyash: The Clock Doesn’t Care.

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March 2024

421 Arts Campus Announces Artists-in-Residence for First Cycle of Residency Program in 2024

We are pleased to announce the selected participants for the first cycle of the Residency Program 2024, taking place from February to July. The program, which is taking place in a newly transformed space featuring artist studios and facilities, marks the anticipated expansion of the 421 Arts campus and follows the conclusion of the online Homebound Residency Program. The residents are Asma Khoory, Auguste Nomeikaite, Christopher Joshua Benton, and Jumaanah Alhashemi.

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March 2024

The Ramadan 2024 Program at 421 Arts Campus

This Ramadan, 421 Arts Campus warmly invites visitors to continue embracing themes of community, reflection, and connection through a dedicated program of events.

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January 2024

421 Presents Winter 2024 Program: Entanglements Featuring A New Season of Exhibitions and Public Programs Focused on Community and Connection

Taking place from January 12 to March 20, the Winter 2024 Program: ‘Entanglements’ features Network Culture and Hana El-Sagini: Counting Fingers, as well as new workshops and special events. Opening on February 11 are Network Culture, a group exhibition resulting from the Homebound Residency Program and Counting Fingers, a solo exhibition by artist Hana El-Sagini who is part of this year’s 421 Artistic Development Program.

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October 2023

Palestinian Cinema Days at 421

The Palestinian Cinema Days will include feature films in the documentary and narrative genres by Palestinian filmmakers and directors based around the world. Presented in collaboration with Reel Palestine and Cinema Akil, the Palestinian Cinema Days champion independent and alternative cinema. 

 

All proceeds from the program will go to the Emirates Red Crescent campaign ‘Tarahum - for Gaza.’

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September 2023

421 Presents Fall 2023 Program: Earthly Joys Featuring Two Major Exhibitions and Over Twenty Public Programs Exploring the Connection Between Humanity and Nature

Running from September 24 to December 21, this season features two major exhibitions and over twenty workshops, talks, and special events that explore the profound connection between humanity and nature. Opening on October 22 are Nine Nodes of Non-Being, a group exhibition curated by Ritika Biswas that is the result of the Curatorial Development Program, and Asma Belhamar: Solid Void, a solo exhibition for artist Asma Belhamar who is participating in the 2023 edition of the 421 Artistic Development Program.

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September 2023

Artistic Development Program 2024 Grantees Announced

We are pleased to announce that artists Mona Ayyash, Hana El-Sagini, and Realiity Collective have been selected for the 2024 Artistic Development Program. The capacity building program supports artists through the production of a major body of work that culminates in a solo exhibition at the 421 campus in Abu Dhabi. The artists were selected through an annual open call that invites UAE-based practitioners to propose ambitious new projects that require additional support.

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April 2023

421 Presents Summer 2023 Program: ‘Setting Suns’ Featuring Two Exhibitions and a Public Program Encouraging Collective Discovery and Self Expression

Running from June 21 until September 21, the program invites the community to embrace the natural rhythm of the season and collectively discover new forms of self-expression through an engaging public program   that invites the community to participate in homecooking sessions, performance and movement workshops and the annual Summer Club.

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April 2023

421 Announces Recipients of Its Capacity Building Programs 2023-24

We are pleased to announce the recipients of our capacity building programs for the year 2023-24. The programs, which include the Curatorial Development Program, the Artistic Research Grant, and Homebound Residency, will give 15 artists and collectives from across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia special grants, financial resources, and professional support to work on the development of new research projects that explore critical issues related to human engagement with the environment.

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April 2023

421 Presents Spring 2023 Program: Savour the Sun and the Moon Featuring New Exhibitions and Public Programs Celebrating Renewal and Contemplation

421 presents its Spring 2023 Program: Savour the Sun and the Moon. Running until June 21, the spring season presents two major exhibitions and a wide-ranging program of workshops and special events that aim to bring people together to slow down and collectively contemplate. It features supper clubs, cultural tours, and excursions that offer intuitive and perceptible ways to contribute to shared new beginnings.  

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March 2023

The Ramadan 2023 Program at 421 Features Immersive Sensory Experiences Highlighting Community and Reflection

Coinciding with the spring Equinox, and inaugurating the beginning of spring, our Ramadan 2023 program offers visitors the opportunity to slow down and prepare for a fresh start. It features a variety of exciting, immersive sensory workshops and experiences that highlight mindfulness, community, and reflection. 

 

The program includes listening parties, outdoor night markets, drop-in creative workshops, stargazing excursions, community gatherings, and a supper club. This year’s Ramadan program ushers in the Spring 2023 season and with that lays the foundation for a season’s worth of sensory experiences that allow us to collectively reflect and hone in on ideas that unite us all under starry skies.

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February 2023

421 presents Four New Major Exhibitions That Support Emerging Artists from the MENASA Region

Part of the Winter 2023 Program, the exhibitions include solo and group exhibitions exploring memory, remembrance, time, and language.

 

Image: Installation view of Rand Abdul Jabbar's ليكن مذكوراً (May it be remembered), 2022. Video projection with audio and mud brick sculptures. Duration: 7 minutes. And The Mirrors Are Many 

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February 2023

‘Stepping Forward: Performance Practice and Research, Here’ symposium brought together 40+ artists, curators, and practitioners for an extensive program of talks, workshops, and performances

From February 18 to 19, ‘Stepping Forward: Performance Practice and Research, Here’ symposium brought together over 40 artists, curators, and practitioners from across the MENASA region to discuss and reflect on critical issues in emergent performance practices. The public program, which included panel discussions, presentations, workshops, and performances, drew more than 400 attendees from the UAE’s arts and culture community and the general public. The program was conceived, produced, and presented by 421, Alserkal Arts Foundation, and New York University Abu Dhabi. 

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January 2023

421 Presents Winter 2023 Program: RE/COLLECT THIS Featuring Four Major Exhibitions and Over Twenty Public Programs Investigating Contemporary Modes of Memory-Making

Taking place from January 15 to March 21, the Winter 2023 Program responds to themes explored in the new exhibitions And The Mirrors Are Many and Mahshid Rafiei: Of Mythic Proportions. 

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November 2022

Introducing 421

Many might remember when we first opened our doors to the public seven years ago today. A newly renovated and repurposed warehouse, our mission was to provide a dynamic space that could be home to exhibitions and events that our community sorely needed at the time.

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September 2022

A season for Regrounding: Warehouse421's Fall 2022 Program Focused on Local Food Security and Ecologies

Running from September 21 until December 25, the public program presents 35+ talks, workshops and special events that explore creative and communal approaches to reconnecting with the environment.

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March 2022

Warehouse421 Spring 2022 Program Features Major Exhibitions ‘Language is Migrant’, ‘Out of Range’, and ‘The Weft in Pencil’, as well as Extensive Public Program

A new lineup of exhibitions, workshops and special events are taking place throughout the season.

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January 2022

Warehouse421 Presents Winter 2022 Season Featuring New Exhibitions and Public Programs

Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi’s home-grown arts and design center dedicated to showcasing and nurturing creative production across the region, announces its Winter 2022 Season.

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