
14 June - 07 July



PROGRAMME
Abu Dhabi Festival 2022
Now you can tour the Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives exhibition anytime, anywhere. In a first-of-its-kind event, the digital launch of the landmark exhibition allows you to visit—and revisit—more than 100 artworks by 62 pioneering and emerging artists that shaped the nation’s visual arts landscape.
In partnership with the Embassy of Japan to the UAE, Abu Dhabi Festival will showcase 42 prints produced by 10 prominent Japanese contemporary painters, including Yayoi Kusama, Masanari Murai and Yasukazu Tabuchi, who explored a wide range of possibilities through prints and expanded the range of expression in contemporary art using the print medium in the 1970s.
Riwaq Al Adab Wal Kitab aims to strengthen and support the Emirati publishing industry by presenting the achievements of Emirati and Arab writers. The initiative seeks to foster creativity among local writers and to preserve and celebrate the beauty of the Arabic language in literature and its role as a key element of national identity.
Gifted Emirati composer Ihab Darwish’s new work, in collaboration with Emmy-winning composer John Debney and Academy Award-winning composer David Shire, celebrates the historic opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. Bringing together top international composers, musicians and vocal ensembles from Christian, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds, the symphony celebrates unity and peace amongst different faiths.
In partnership with the Embassy of Japan to the UAE, Abu Dhabi Festival will showcase 42 prints produced by 10 prominent Japanese contemporary painters, including Yayoi Kusama, Masanari Murai and Yasukazu Tabuchi, who explored a wide range of possibilities through prints and expanded the range of expression in contemporary art using the print medium in the 1970s.
Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives, the jewel of Abu Dhabi Festival 2022, has come to a close but the story of the nation’s artistic development as it transpired over 50 years lives on through the innovative launch of the virtual exhibition, its book companion, Portrait of a Nation II and an upcoming world tour.
In partnership with Ewa’a Shelter for Women and Children, a series of talks were hosted at the Expo 2020 Women’s Pavilion with international experts on humanitarian issues involving violence towards women. Aimed at strengthening awareness of violence and abuse, the talks explored what we can do as individuals, as a nation and as a community to make changes for a more violence-free world.
Beginning with a visual art exhibition, literature festival and musical performance, Abu Dhabi Festival is partnering with the Middle East Institute in an innovative ongoing collaboration to strengthen US-UAE cultural ties. In 2022, this diverse range of activities includes an exhibition of contemporary art by leading Middle Eastern artists whose work explores the impact of climate change on their communities and natural environment, and the need for greater sustainability.
Gifted Emirati composer Ihab Darwish’s new work, in collaboration with Emmy-winning composer John Debney and Academy Award-winning composer David Shire, celebrates the historic opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. Bringing together top international composers, musicians and vocal ensembles from Christian, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds, the symphony celebrates unity and peace amongst different faiths.
Vanguard flamenco dancer and choreographer María Pagés premieres her feminine vision of Carmen. Hailed all over the world as one of the finest contemporary flamenco shows, it is a new take on the gypsy cigarette girl from Mérimée’s novella who was made famous by Bizet and the storyteller of the Arabian Nights.
Acclaimed Algerian filmmaker Salem Brahimi documents the inspiring story of Algerian Olympic champion Hassiba Boulmerka’s rise in the 1990s as a symbol of courage and resistance against death threats from religious extremists and oppression. Echoing the struggle of young Muslim women in some places to be allowed to jog and engage in sports, the film ultimately raises questions about the place of women in our societies.
Riwaq Al Adab Wal Kitab aims to strengthen and support the Emirati publishing industry by presenting the achievements of Emirati and Arab writers. The initiative seeks to foster creativity among local writers and to preserve and celebrate the beauty of the Arabic language in literature and its role as a key element of national identity.
Portrait of a Nation II, the book companion to Abu Dhabi Festival 2022’s flagship Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives exhibition, guides readers through the remarkable transformation of the UAE’s art history, tracing the path chartered by 62 pioneering artists who have shaped the UAE’s visual arts scene as it unfolded over the past 50 years.
The first album by these young performers from Europe and the Middle East is born out of the need to bridge the distance between the shores and sonic world’s of a rapidly changing region. Musicians from Egypt, Turkey, Portugal and Italy met in Cairo to build a new collective musical identity, blending timbres and backgrounds in a unique artistic collaboration with Festival Aix-en-Provence, supported by Abu Dhabi Festival.