Art Here 2023

November is a busy month in Abu Dhabi, with many events going on across the city. It has also been busy at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, with the Cartier exhibition opening, and also - Art Here 2023.
It's the third edition of the Art Here competition, and this year the installations have been made outside, under the dome.

This year, the theme is 'Transparencies', and the seven shortlisted artists are exploring the dynamics of transparency as well as its material and perceptual significance. Each artist presents their unique interpretation of the thematic, through various mediums.

Zarah Al Ghamdi is using twisted tree limbs, plastic waste, bones and debris for her Antropocene's Toll: A Planet Asphyxiated:

These three stained-glass panels are depicting the streets and boundaries of Al Khuzama in Riyadh. It's called Remember to Forget, and it's by Alaa Tarabzouni.

Hiya (She) by Farah Behbehani pays homage to a 10th century Syrian Muslim woman astronomer:

Hashel Al Lamki's Foraminifera:

Flesh Memory, fabricated in biomaterial made of algae (and unfortunately already broken and under maintenance) by Sarah Brahim:

This is Softbank, by Nabla Yahya, where she uses a three-dimensional cartographic representation of the Suez Canal:

My favourite is this one though, Waterdust, by siblings Sawsan and Bahar Al Bahar. These glass sculptures blend in so beautifully with the Damascus fountain, and I am so attracted to the shapes and colours:

The exhibition is ongoing until 18 February 2024, and the winner of the Richard Mille Art Prize will be named in early 2024.