How Emirati Artist Shaikha Al Mazrou Reframes the Landscape at Manar Abu Dhabi 2025

Manar Abu Dhabi returns in 2025 with its most ambitious edition yet, extending across Jubail Island, Souq Al Mina, and—for the first time—the oasis landscapes of Al Ain. The programme presents 22 site-responsive commissions by Emirati and international artists, transforming coastal wetlands, mangrove corridors, markets, and historic irrigation trails into a constellation of works that dialogue with their surroundings. The initiative demonstrates how contemporary art can coexist with, and illuminate, the natural and cultural environments of the UAE.

'Deliberate Pauses', installation view. Courtesy of Alserkal Arts Foundation and Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.

At the forefront of this edition is Emirati sculptor Shaikha Al Mazrou, whose monumental 30-metre installation, Contingent Object (2025), has quickly become one of the most talked-about works on Jubail Island. Suspended between solidity and transformation, the circular structure gradually shifts from liquid to crystallised salt, responding to the island’s humidity, temperature, and wind. Incorporating water, salt, and red algae, materials integral to the Gulf’s coastal ecosystem, the work behaves as a living system, capturing cycles of erosion, accumulation, and environmental change.

Approaching Contingent Object is itself a deliberate act: the path slows visitors’ pace, creating a moment of pause and reflection before they continue through the island’s other installations. The work demonstrates Al Mazrou’s signature approach, in which materials are not simply shaped but engaged in dialogue with their environment. By allowing the conditions of the landscape to guide the sculpture’s evolution, the artist transforms the site into an active collaborator.

Shaikha Al Mazrou, Contingent Object, 2025. Manar Abu Dhabi 2025. Image courtesy of Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi & Public Art Abu Dhabi

The concept for Contingent Object emerged from years of research into salt and crystallisation, inspired initially by the vast expanses of Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni. Al Mazrou explains:

“Working with salt is never a neutral decision. It is a material shaped by time, erosion, accumulation, and climate. It records its own history. That was central to the research. I spent months observing salt formations in coastal inlets, studying how crystallisation responds to wind patterns, humidity, and temperature shifts. The material teaches you that it grows, shrinks, and fractures on its own timeline.”

Shaikha Al Mazrou Portrait, Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi

Rather than imposing a predetermined form, the installation creates conditions that allow the material to build itself, emphasizing the relationship between environment, process, and perception. In doing so, Al Mazrou invites visitors to experience time, transformation, and the subtle forces that shape the landscape in real time.

Manar Abu Dhabi 2025 also extends for the first time to Al Ain, where seven new site-specific works inhabit the UNESCO-listed Al Qattara and Al Jimi Oasis Trails. Artists including Maitha Hamdan, Ammar Al Attar, Christian Brinkmann, Khalid Shafar, Abdalla Almulla, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer activate the historic irrigation systems, palm groves, and freshwater channels of the oases. The contrast between coastal and desert environments highlights the programme’s breadth, while underscoring the dialogue between contemporary artistic practices and centuries-old landscapes.

Within this expanded geography, Contingent Object exemplifies how Emirati artists are shaping the future of public art in the region. By placing material intelligence, environmental responsiveness, and spatial perception at the center of her practice, Shaikha Al Mazrou reframes the way audiences experience the landscape, demonstrating the power of contemporary art to reveal the hidden rhythms and forces of place.

Left to Right:

Detail image of Shaikha Al Mazrou, Space in Between, 2022, Wet coated steel, 107.5 x 215 x 186.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi

Detail view of Shaikha Al Mazrou, Square Within a Square 2, 2024, Wet coated steel, 100 x 106 x 16 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi

Detail view of Shaikha Al Mazrou, Untitled, 2024, Wet coated steel, 160 x 120 x 11 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi

Detail view of Shaikha Al Mazrou, Untitled, 2025, Wet coated steel, 90 x 92 x 8 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi