City-wide light exhibition to return to Abu Dhabi this November City-wide light exhibition to return to Abu Dhabi this November

Abu Dhabi’s city-wide light exhibition is set to return this November – and this year it’s bigger than ever.

First held in 2023, Manar Abu Dhabi sees light installations across the emirate’s archipelagos, mangroves and oases. While the inaugural edition was limited to the capital, 2025 will also see installations in Al Ain, the UNESCO-listed city found around a 90 minute drive away.

Held under the theme ‘The Light Compass’, there will be 19 site-specific artworks from both Emirati and international artists. The works will draw inspiration from the Gulf’s past, exploring its use in navigation for seafarers and desert nomads.

Khai Hori, artistic director at Manar Abu Dhabi 2025, said, “Manar Abu Dhabi brings audiences and artists into imaginative encounters shaped by Emirati traditional knowledge and contemporary experience. With The Light Compass, this edition becomes a journey of navigation and discovery, inviting us to see, sense, and connect with the landscapes and stories that light reveals.”

Manar Abu Dhabi will take place in Al Ain’s Al Qattara and Al Jimi Oases between 1 November and 4 January 2026, while the installations in the capital, which will centre on Jubail Island, will be open to the public between 15 November and 4 January 2026.

While the exact details around the artists involved are yet to be revealed, the inaugural edition saw installations from international art collective teamLab on Samaliyah Island, a drone show at Louvre Abu Dhabi, and artworks from Rafael Lozano-Hemmer on Lulu Island.

Earlier this year, teamLab Phenomena opened in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District, giving a permanent home to some of the works that went on display in 2023.

More information: abudhabiculture.ae

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