ABU DHABI, UAE, Jan. 22, 2026 -- The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi has appointed Elvira Dyangani Ose as Artistic Director of the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial to curate its second edition which opens in the autumn of 2026 and runs into 2027.
Building on the success of the inaugural edition that opened in 2024, the next edition of the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, under Dyangani Ose's direction, will transform Abu Dhabi once again into an emirate-wide celebration of public art, culture and community.
The much-lauded inaugural edition of Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, which exhibited throughout Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, ran from 15 November 2024 to 30 April 2025. The biennale featured site-specific installations by artists from the UAE and around the world, many of which were then acquired to remain as permanent public works including pieces by Kader Attia, Superflex, Nathan Coley, Wael Al Awar, Farah Al Qassimi and Shaikha Al Ketbi.
Elvira Dyangani Ose currently serves as Director of the MACBA, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. Previously, she was Director and Chief Curator at The Showroom in London. Among other initiatives, she has held the roles of Curator of the eighth Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Senior Curator at Creative Time, and Curator of International Art at Tate Modern. She sat on the Advisory Council of Tate Modern and was a member of the Thought Council of Fondazione Prada, for whom she curated numerous exhibitions. She currently sits on the recently appointed Board of CIMAM – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art.
Her curatorial projects, multidisciplinary in nature, reflect critically on the narration of history as a participatory experience, the traces of collective representation in public space, and the recovery of non-Western narratives and epistemologies. Her recent projects include Project a Black Planet – The Art and Culture of Panafrica (co-curated, 2024 – 2027), Coco Fusco. I Learned to Swim On Dry Land (2025) and Goshka Macuga's Miu Miu Tales and Tellers (convenor, 2024 - 2025).
Dyangani Ose holds a degree in Art History from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She is a doctoral candidate in Visual Studies at Cornell University in New York, where she earned a Master of Arts. She has a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Theory and History of Architecture from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. She taught at Goldsmiths College as a specialist in Museology, Curating, Black Studies, and Contemporary African Art.
Further details and dates relating to the second edition of Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial will be announced in due course.
Notes To Editors
About Public Art Abu Dhabi
Public Art Abu Dhabi is the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi)'s initiative under its ongoing commitment to commissioning public art for the emirate. Integral to this initiative is its community engagement efforts. The initiative advances the creative legacy, cultural infrastructure, liveability, and wellbeing of the UAE capital's residents through placemaking and collective memory. Public Art Abu Dhabi presents the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial along with Manar Abu Dhabi.
For more information please visit: paad.ae
About the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi:
The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi's culture and tourism sectors and its creative industries, fuelling economic progress and helping to achieve Abu Dhabi's wider global ambitions.
By working in partnership with the organisations that define the emirate's position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of the emirate's potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture and tourism.
DCT Abu Dhabi's vision is defined by the emirate's people, heritage and landscape. We work to enhance Abu Dhabi's status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought.
For more information about the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi and the destination, please visit: dct.gov.ae and abudhabiculture.ae
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