(MENAFN- Weber Shandwick) Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 10 November 2025: The Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) will lead the Community Partner section at Abu Dhabi Art 2025, curating a dedicated space in collaboration with Salasil, the acclaimed curatorial studio and library. A Riwaq Al Fikr panel discussion – part of ADMAF’s engaging talk series featuring renowned artists, performers, and thinkers – will also be presented in partnership with New York University Abu Dhabi (NYU Abu Dhabi) exploring Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s four-decade relationship with the UAE, their dedication to youth engagement and their remarkable global body of work. ADMAF’s programming at Abu Dhabi Art will run from 19 to 23 November at Manarat Al Saadiyat.
H.E. Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and Founder and Artistic Director of Abu Dhabi Festival, emphasised the vital role of community partnerships at Abu Dhabi Art 2025 in empowering the arts.
H.E. stated: "Year after year, Abu Dhabi Art offers an innovative reflection of the capital’s creative spirit and the ever-growing vitality of its artistic landscape, in parallel with the remarkable achievements unfolding across the Saadiyat Cultural District.
"We are proud to present the community project ‘Mutual Systems,’ a dynamic platform for cultural and artistic dialogue. The project envisions Abu Dhabi as an interconnected archipelago, where bridges and networks of harmony strengthen solidarity through memory, care and exchange.
H.E. added: "Presented in partnership with New York University Abu Dhabi, we will also host a panel discussion ‘Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the UAE: Friendship and Legacy’, featuring private art collector Ingrid Jochheim, Vladimir Yavachev, Director of Operations at the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, Emily Doherty, Director of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award and Fabio Piano, Vice President of New York University Abu Dhabi. The enlightening discussion celebrates the inspiring artistic legacy of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their enduring connection with the UAE over four decades."
Community Partner Section: Mutual Systems
Dates: 19 – 23 November
Location: Theatre, Manarat Al Saadiyat
Titled Mutual Systems, the ADMAF-led Community Partner section, created in collaboration with Salasil, invites reflection on how communities form, connect and evolve. It explores the themes of memory, care, exchange and belonging, presenting community as both heritage and future, as ecosystem and resource, and as a lived practice in everyday life. Within this framework, partners will showcase works that explore how shared values, collective practices and creative interventions can help shape the fabric of a city. Particularly resonant in the context of the UAE’s Year of Community, the section highlights the power of connection, collaboration and collective creativity in reinforcing the ties that unite people.
Salasil founders and curatorial duo Sara bin Safwan and Zainab Hasoon explained that the exhibition seeks to explore the underlying frameworks that shape communities, questioning how they are formed, defined and understood.
“We have invited artists, researchers, architects, community organisers and participants to contribute to a shared exploration of Mutual Systems. This exhibition realises how these different interconnected nodes of initiatives, projects and universities are important to memory, care and exchange,” they said.
The section will include contributions from community partners, including Zayed University, Maraya Art Centre, NYU Abu Dhabi, House of Artisans, Zuleya by Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative, Khaleeji Art Museum, National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) and Future Rehabilitation Centre Art transforming the Theatre into a living environment of participation and dialogue.
Riwaq Al Fikr: Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the UAE: Friendship and Legacy
Date: 19 November, 6pm
Location: Auditorium, Manarat Al Saadiyat
ADMAF, in partnership with NYU Abu Dhabi, will also present a Riwaq Al Fikr talk titled Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the UAE: Friendship and Legacy at Abu Dhabi Art. The discussion brings together Ingrid Jochheim, private collector of Christo’s work, Vladimir Yavachef, Director of Operations for the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, and Emily Doherty, Director of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award, in conversation with Fabio Piano, Interim Vice Chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi. The session will offer a rare opportunity to reflect on Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s four-decade relationship with the UAE, their enduring artistic legacy and the profound influence of their vision on generations of emerging artists, including through the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award, established in partnership with ADMAF and NYU Abu Dhabi to nurture young talent across the nation.
The Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation’s participation at Abu Dhabi Art 2025 underscores its mission to nurture cultural engagement, education, and creativity, offering a vital platform for community-driven artistic expression at one of the region’s foremost art fairs.

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