What's On

Current

Rays, Ripples, Residue

1 November 2025 - 26 April 2026

The exhibition marks the ten-year anniversary of 421 Arts Campus, offering a space for reflecting on emergent artistic practices in the UAE, their possibilities and challenges for the future. Featuring video, performance, installation, and multimedia works, the exhibition invites conversations around what it means to produce art in the UAE today from the vantage point of emerging artists, collectives, and grassroots initiatives, to the influential role of cultural institutions that have supported and platformed these practices.

Localized Futures: Conversations by 421 x afikra

Localized Futures: Conversations by 421 x afikra is a collaborative series of talks presented by 421 and afikra, dedicated to exploring the future of key cultural and civic sectors through a uniquely regional lens. This four-part program, running from January through April, is anchored by the theme, "The Localized Futures," which challenges global narratives by focusing on the distinct solutions, innovations, and challenges inherent to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Winter 2026 Program

Based on our ten-year anniversary exhibition, Rays, Ripples, Residue, this decadal season extends the spirit of the exhibition into programming that considers, obscures, and cyclically revisits, and at times, re-imagines, the past, present, and future of 421 as witness to the transformations, translations, and adaptations within and surrounding its walls. The seasonal general public programming invites four modalities of translating our past, present, and future.

For Poetry: A Writers’ Suhoor

26 February 2026
9:00 PM - 12:00 AM

Gather for a Writers’ Suhoor, an intimate evening of poetry, collaboration, and reflection. Arrive to be greeted by a typewriter inviting you to contribute a line to a collective poem, a spontaneous act of shared authorship.

Open to all skill levels, ages 18 and above. A light Suhoor will be provided.

Image-Makers’ Suhoor with Boubaker, Hala, and Arnold

5 March 2026
9:00 PM - 12:00 AM

The Image-Makers’ Suhoor is an evening designed for image-makers, artists, and anyone curious about creative processes. The night begins with artist talks, where the invited artists will present works in progress and showcase their image-making practices across analog, film-making, and stop-motion, followed by a Q&A.

The evening concludes with a light Suhoor, providing time to reflect, share, and connect over creative practice.

No prior experience is required. Open to all skill levels, ages 18 and above. A light suhoor will be provided.

Pencil In: Suhoor Hour With Sarah Afaneh

12 March 2026
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Pencil In is a writers’ group created to provide a supportive environment for writers to write alone, together! We at 421 love the idea of body-doubling (working near or around someone to help stay focused and engaged) when we are working, writing, and creating.

For this special Ramadan edition, write and share in the company of other writers while enjoying a light Suhoor, embracing the communal spirit of Ramadan.

Open to ages 18 and above.

No prior experience is required, just a love for the written word!

A light Suhoor will be provided!

Tatreez Circle: Suhoor Hour With Joanna Barakat

12 March 2026
9:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Join us for ‘Tatreez Circle’ with Joanna Barakat, a series where you’ll get together as makers to embroider meaningful motifs.

This is a relaxed, communal space for stitchers and tatreez practitioners to work side by side. All experience levels are welcome, whether you’ve just learned tatreez or have been practicing for years, but basic knowledge of tatreez is required.

Participants are asked to bring their own embroidery projects and supplies.

A Light Suhoor will be provided.