Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park
The UAE's first open-air sculpture park, wrapped around Jameel Arts Centre on the Creek — monumental works by international and Emirati artists.
The Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park is the UAE's first open-air art and sculpture park, set on the Jaddaf Waterfront along Dubai Creek and wrapped around Jameel Arts Centre, one of Dubai's leading contemporary art institutions (opened by Art Jameel in 2018). Developed in partnership with Dubai Holding and designed by the UAE-based architecture studio ibda design (also credited as waiwai), the park acts as a bridge between the public corniche circling the waterfront and the stacked geometry of the arts centre, its undulating paths echoing the ripples of the Creek.
Conceived as an active outdoor gallery and civic space rather than a static display, the park presents both permanent, monumental commissions and rotating installations by local and international artists. Inaugural and ongoing works have included Helaine Blumenfeld's bronze Tempesta, a terracotta majlis-style seating installation by Emirati artists Talin Hazbar and Latifa Saeed, and pieces by Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, David Nash and Slavs and Tatars, alongside programmed projects such as Daan Roosegaarde's acclaimed light installation WATERLICHT and Hassan Khan's multilingual sound work. The park also anchors the Jaddaf Playscape Commission, a recurring Dubai Public Art initiative inviting UAE-based artists to create large-scale interactive works.
Beyond the art, the park is designed for community use, with fixed furniture and game tables, a children's playground, food-truck zones and a 200-seat amphitheatre for film screenings and performances — all free and open along the Creek, complementing the exhibitions and rooftop commissions inside Jameel Arts Centre.
Exhibo editorial
Dubai took a while to build a public place where sculpture just lives outdoors, free, by the water — and when it did, it put it on the Creek, the oldest part of the city's story. The Jaddaf park wraps around Jameel Arts Centre like an extension of the galleries into open air, except here you can bring a coffee, sit at a chess table, and let the kids loose while a Blumenfeld bronze holds the middle distance.
The smart thing is that it refuses to be precious. Monumental commissions share the ground with a playground and food trucks and a 200-seat amphitheatre, and the works rotate, so the park is never quite the same twice. Come late afternoon, walk the Creek-side paths, then carry on into the Jameel to see where the outdoor art continues indoors and up onto the roof.
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How to find it
The Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park sits on Dubai Creek in Al Jaddaf, immediately around Jameel Arts Centre, and is reachable via the Creek-side corniche. Jaddaf metro (Green Line) is nearby. The park is free and open along the waterfront: wander the curving paths between the large-scale sculptures, then continue into Jameel Arts Centre for the indoor galleries, gardens and rooftop commissions. The 200-seat amphitheatre and food-truck zone host regular events.
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