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421 Arts Campus — gallery cover

Mina ZayedAbu Dhabi

421 Arts Campus

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Curatorial Ethos

421 Arts Campus functions as a research-driven laboratory dedicated to supporting early-career practitioners through a process-oriented approach that prioritizes experimentation over perfection. Its curatorial ethos centers on harnessing artistic practice as a catalyst for social inquiry, utilizing public programming and capacity-building initiatives to bridge creative disciplines and engage broader audiences. The platform actively cultivates inter-disciplinary exchange while providing structured mentorship and production support for emerging voices.

Established in 2015 within a repurposed warehouse in Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, 421 Arts Campus operates as an independent platform for emerging artists and creative practitioners across the UAE and the wider region. The venue presents a year-round programme of exhibitions, workshops, residencies, and educational initiatives designed to foster research, experimentation, and social inquiry. Featuring galleries, artist studios, a library, and an outdoor plaza, it functions as a multidisciplinary hub that encourages critical dialogue and community engagement.

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Address

Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi

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News by Exhibo

Editorial coverage on Exhibo

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Human in the Loop: A New Sound-and-String Exhibition Opens in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates

Human in the Loop: A New Sound-and-String Exhibition Opens in Abu Dhabi

At 421 Arts Campus, Emirati robotics engineer Dr Ahmad AlAttar turns the gallery into a field of sound and strings you have to play — his first institutional solo show, on until 13 September.

A field of coloured ropes hangs from the ceiling at 421 Arts Campus, each one wired to respond to touch with sound. Human in the Loop, the first institutional solo show by Emirati robotics engineer and artist Dr Ahmad AlAttar, turns the gallery into a game of hide-and-seek with an unseen algorithm — on until 13 September.

Artists & People

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Artists

Represented and guest artists exhibiting with the gallery.

Curators & programme

Curatorial team and exhibition programming.

Deniz Kirkali

Deniz Kirkali

Curator

Deniz Kirkali is an independent curator and writer based between Istanbul and London. She holds a PhD in Advanced Practices and an MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Goldsmiths, University of London. She is a co-founder of topsoil, a transnational curatorial and research collective, and Garp Sessions, a summer residency programme in Babakale, Turkey. Recent curatorial projects include Whether it’s a desert or not is irrelevant (Imalat-hane, Bursa), Sweet Garden of Vanishing Desires (Arton, Istanbul) and Reciprocity Muscles (Cala, Berlin). She was assistant curator of the 10th BACA Award Exhibition at Bonnefantenmuseum, the Pavilion of Turkey at the 58th Venice Biennale, and BAHAR, the Istanbul offsite project of Sharjah Biennial 13, and served as managing editor of the YAZ Publication Series for Sharjah Biennial 16. (Source: 421 Arts Campus)

Elham Puriya Mehr

Elham Puriya Mehr

Curator

Elham Puriya Mehr is an artist, curator, scholar and writer based in Vancouver, BC. She holds a BA and MA from the University of Art in Tehran, a PhD in Art Research from Alzahra University, and completed a Research Fellowship in Advanced Practice at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research explores the potential of social-space atmospheres to generate alternative forms of learning and knowledge-making. She has taught at Sooreh University, the University of Art in Tehran and Emily Carr University of Art + Design, was a Research Associate with the freethought collective (2021–2022), and co-curated Unfolding Desire at Trieste Contemporanea (2025). (Source: 421 Arts Campus)