Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and home to the best museums in the Middle East as well as some great quality street art relating to the country’s culture and heritage, as Matt from Buenos Aires Street Art discovered.
Mural by Evoca1 (photo © BA Street Art)
Al Raha
One of the longest and most striking murals in Abu Dhabi was painted in 2016 by a group of international street artists including Evoca1 (Dominican Republic), Decertor, Jade Rivera, Entes, (all Perú), Irving Cano (Mexico) and Onur (Switzerland). It’s located close to Al Raha Mall and can be seen from Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Road.
A giant flying falcon (photo © BA Street Art)
The mural measures 600 metres long and took the artists four weeks to paint. The theme relates to Emirati traditions and heritage. This section with a giant flying falcon was painted by Evoca1.
Arab boy with falcon painted by Jade (photo © BA Street Art)
Falconry has a long cultural tradition in UAE with roots in Bedouin society and the practice was once an important hunting method. Today, it’s become more of a sport and is also symbol of heritage and nobility.
Woman at work in traditional clothing (photo © BA Street Art)
This project was curated by Evoca1 and funded by Aldar Properties.
Boy with camel (photo © BA Street Art)
This section features a young boy leading a camel. Camels are deep rooted in the UAE’s history and traditions having played a vital role in transportation and withstanding long journeys in the desert. Camel racing is also a popular sport.
Camel in Al Wathba desert (photo © BA Street Art)
There is a huge camel track at Al Wathba about 50 km to the south of Abu Dhabi city with races often held at weekends. We went on a camel ride organised through Al Wathba Desert Resort and one of the camels we rode on named ‘Ferrari’ is pictured above.
Coffee time (photo © BA Street Art)
This section of the mural features a person in typical Arabic dress pouring a cup of coffee using a dallah which is a traditional coffee jug.
Boy with lantern (photo © BA Street Art)
Kobra in Al Bateen
Mural called ‘Tolerance’ by Kobra in Al Bateen (photo © BA Street Art)
In 2019, Brazilian muralist Eduardo Kobra was hired by the Abu Dhabi government to paint murals on the sides of the Marina Office building in Al Bateen. The artwork entitled ‘Tolerance’ depicts portraits of people from different countries who live in the region and relates to breaking down barriers, diversity and multiculturalism.
Portraits of people from the region (photo © BA Street Art)
Kobra’s mural is still thought to the biggest mural in Abu Dhabi in terms of surface area. Also check out another mural by Kobra in UAE in our blog post about Dubai street art.
Ethiad Towers (photo © BA Street Art)
Kobra’s mural is located about 5 minutes by car from the city’s five tallest buildings known as Ethiad Towers that are also in the El Bateen neighbourhood. This is a view of the towers from Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental.
Downtown Abu Dhabi
Mega mural by MadC (photo © BA Street Art)
In 2017, a government initiative to improve urban spaces called ‘For Abu Dhabi’ hired international street artists to paint a series of murals in downtown. The murals were curated by Studio Romer. This massive mural by MadC covers an 18-story apartment block on Airport Road. It measures 55 metres high and is the tallest mural the German street artist has painted to date.
Mural by Elian (photo © BA Street Art)
Argentine street artist Elian also participated in the project and painted a colourful geometric design on this building on Al Falah Street.
Market painted by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim (photo © BA Street Art)
As part of the ‘For Abu Dhabi’ project, Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim was invited to paint the exterior walls of Madinat Zayed Market.
Mural by Ernest Zacharevic featuring local girls (photo © BA Street Art)
Close to the market, Lithuanian street artist Ernest Zacharevic painted two murals featuring kids from Abu Dhabi. This artwork (above) is regarded as the first public artwork in the UAE to depict Emirati girls.
Abu Dhabi kids mural by Ernest Zacharevic (photo © BA Street Art)
The second mural features two boys playing. Check out our blog post about street art in Dubai featuring a mural by Ernest Zacharevic.
School in Khalifa City
Kids climbing & playing with balloons (photo © BA Street Art)
This school in Khalifa City has been decorated with 3D murals on three sides featuring kids climbing, playing with balloons, blowing bubbles and drawing.
Kid drawing (photo © BA Street Art)
Not sure who the author or authors are who created these artworks as we couldn’t find a signature but we came across several mural projects in UAE where street artists have been commissioned by property developers to paint murals with specific themes on apartment blocks and haven’t signed them.
Blowing bubbles (photo © BA Street Art)
Another side of the building shows two kids flying a kite while a girl blows bubbles.
Falcon & desert landscape (photo © BA Street Art)
Also in Khalifa City, we passed a housing complex with a stunning mural featuring a desert landscape with two Arabian Oryx and a falcon. Love the palette of colours with the sand dunes, palm trees and sky.
Right hand side of mural features two Arabian Oryx (photo © BA Street Art)
Yas Island
Yas Island is an island in Abu Dhabi that has undergone a huge transformation in recent years becoming one of the largest tourism projects in the region. It’s now home to numerous theme parks like Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld, Warner Brothers World, Yas Marina Circuit, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi that opened in 2023, and Disney World will also be coming soon.
Mural by Fatspatrol called ‘The Humans’ on Yas Island (photo © BA Street Art)
Indian-Canadian artist Fathima Mohiuddin also known as Fatspatrol painted the biggest mural on Yas Island in 2021. The artwork is entitled ‘The Humans’ and features tall black and white characters. The site was previously home to O1ne nightclub that had invited graffiti artists to paint the building with pieces and cartoon characters.
‘The Emerging Man’ at Yas Bay Waterfront (photo © BA Street Art)
Yas Bay Waterfront is a good area to check out street art and modern sculpture. This sculpture called ‘The Emerging Man’ on the bay promenade was created by Fatspatrol. Made of fibreglass and reinforced polymer, it depicts the head and hands of a big bald diver climbing out of the water.
astroCAT installation (photo © BA Street Art)
Korean art toy makers Coolabo created four fibreglass ‘astroCAT’ installations in 2021 that have been put up around the waterfront. This one (above) features an astronaut character carrying a skateboard and is located next to Warehouse Gym. The astronaut aspect also references the UAE’s achievements with Hazza Al Mansouri becoming first UAE astronaut in space in 2019 during an eight day scientific mission to the International Space Station, while Dr. Sultan Al Neyadi also became the first Arab astronaut to conduct a spacewalk in 2023.
One of many murals in Zayed Port (photo © BA Street Art)
Zayed Port
From 2020, Abu Dhabi Port Authority gave permission for a collective of local artists to paint murals along a 1.6 km long wall in the port area. Zayed Port is the city’s commercial port and there’s also a dates market, and a fruit and vegetables market close by.
Camel mural (photo © BA Street Art)
These are just a few photos of the artworks with more being added in the last couple of years.
Message in a bottle (photo © BA Street Art)
Melting Rubik cube artwork painted by Nayouf in 2023 (photo © BA Street Art)
Louvre Abu Dhabi
If you’re an art lover visiting UAE, we must recommend a visit to Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island. In 2007, Abu Dhabi government reportedly signed an agreement to pay The Louvre Museum in Paris US$525 million dollars for naming rights over 30 years, and an additional US$750 million for loans of artworks and managerial advice.
Dome covering the museum (photo © BA Street Art)
The museum building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel is as impressive as the collection itself. The form of its stunning floating dome is inspired from traditional Arabic architecture and the roof’s details are made of interconnected star shapes which allow natural light to enter like sunlight passing through the leaves of a palm tree in an oasis. At the centre of the space beneath the stainless steel and aluminum dome is a bronze tree sculpture with mirrors created by Italian artist Giuseppe Penone. The sculpture is called ‘Leaves of Light’ and gives the impression that its branches, the building roof and sky are all interconnected.
Room with Rodin sculpture & impressionist paintings (photo © BA Street Art)
The museum boasts a great collection of statues and ancient relics plus masterpieces by famous impressionist painters loaned from partner museums. While we were there, we saw works by Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Mondrian, Renoir and sculptures by Giacometti and Rodin. Many paintings we had read about online and were looking forward to seeing like Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David and a self portrait of Van Gogh weren’t on display as they had been returned to their parent galleries but the Louvre Abu Dhabi was still one of the highlights of our visit to the UAE.
All photos © Buenos Aires Street Art
