Manar Abu Dhabi returns for its second edition from November 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026, transforming the UAE capital into a celebration of public light art. This year, the festival spreads to Al Qattara Oasis Trail in Al Ain City, where internationally acclaimed artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer will unveil two major installations that merge biometric data, poetry, and architectural heritage.
At the historic Al Wajidi Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lozano-Hemmer premieres “Pulse Canopy” (2025), a new interactive artwork that turns visitors’ heartbeats into beams of light. Using articulated fixtures, the installation creates a luminous overhead canopy that ripples in real time, sending each participant’s pulse into the night sky—an intimate gesture translated on a monumental scale.
Also debuting is a new iteration of “Translation Stream” (2023), which animates poetry by prominent Emirati writers Nujoom Alghanem, Khalid Albudoor, and Adel Khozam. As visitors engage with the work, their interaction brings the verses to life through dynamic bands of light, celebrating the voices of contemporary UAE literature.
Curated by Khai Hori, Alia Zaal Lootah, Munira Al Sayegh, and Mariam Alshehhi, the festival also features installations by Studio Drift, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Christian Brinkmann, Khalid Shafar, Pamela Poh Sin Tan, and others—affirming Manar Abu Dhabi as a leading platform for cutting-edge light art in public space.
Manar Abu Dhabi, A Public Light Art Exhibition, Second EditionNovember 1, 2025 – January 1, 2026
Manar Abu Dhabi FestivalAl Qattara Oasis Trail
Al Ain CIty, UAE