teamLab Phenomena opens immersive art space in Abu Dhabi

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Updated 21 April 2025
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teamLab Phenomena opens immersive art space in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI: teamLab Phenomena opened its doors in Saadiyat Cultural District on Thursday, promising visitors a unique immersive experience.

The Japanese multi-sensory art experience features huge transformative exhibits that aim to engage the senses of sight, sound and touch while encouraging guests to interact with the world around them.

Divided into dry and wet zones, teamLab Phenomena is set to be “somewhere where you can feel that the world is continuous, and to feel that continuity itself,” according to founder Toshiyuki Inoko.




Divided into dry and wet zones, teamLab Phenomena is set to be “somewhere where you can feel that the world is continuous, and to feel that continuity itself,” according to founder Toshiyuki Inoko. (Supplied)

While it first opened in Jeddah in June last year, Inoko said that although the two experiences overlapped visually, the Abu Dhabi experience would be unique.

“Phenomena depicts ambiguous boundaries, or this idea that even if people enter an artwork and break it apart, it repairs itself. Or also transcending the notion of mass and floating material,” he said.

Speaking to Arab News Japan, teamLab’s global director, Takashi Kudo, said the Abu Dhabi experience introduced a brand-new concept — “environmental phenomena.”

This is rooted in triggering perception through natural yet unexplained phenomena, he explained.

“In one of the installations, water flows around visitors’ feet, responding in real-time to their movements, illustrating how the environment and the individual are in constant dialogue,” Kudo said.

“We’re not showing things that can be described in words. Instead, we’re sharing something we feel is beautiful and that we hope people will experience emotionally.




In the heart of Saadiyat Cultural District, teamLab is just one of the pieces that make up the UAE’s growing arts and culture hub. (Supplied)

“When you’re inside a teamLab space, you’re not just seeing something, you’re part of it. Your presence changes the art, and someone else’s presence changes your experience. It’s not about observing from the outside. It’s about feeling with your body and connecting with others in that shared space.”

Giving the examples of the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms or the shifting colors of a desert sunrise, he added: “Life is full of small phenomena. We don’t know if people will like it or not. But we want to awaken curiosity because curiosity makes life beautiful.”

In the heart of Saadiyat Cultural District, teamLab is just one of the pieces that make up the UAE’s growing arts and culture hub.

The chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, Mohamed Al-Mubarak, described the district as a “puzzle or a beautiful painting.”

“Whatever way you look at it, it consists of these institutions, these cultural institutions, that all sort of continuously redefine themselves … It’s all sort of based on you as an individual,” he said.

Comprising seven museums and cultural institutes including the Louvre, Zayed National Museum and the Natural History Museum, Al-Mubarak said the architecture of the buildings was intentional and represented elements of the UAE.

“When you look at the architecture of the buildings of these museums, they are themed. They are a celebration of our culture and heritage. All of our buildings in the district have subtle metaphors to our heritage,” he said.

Visitors can see 12 artworks at the Abu Dhabi space, including the “Levitation Void” and “Massless Suns and Dark Suns.”

Each exhibit relies on real-time depictions and complex algorithms to ensure no two experiences are the same.


Deal signed to promote traditional arts in Saudi Arabia

Updated 33 sec ago
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Deal signed to promote traditional arts in Saudi Arabia

  • Aim is to advance the creative economy and preserve national cultural heritage
  • MoU focuses on key areas: building human capacity through training programs and workshops, offering consulting services, and designing specialized initiatives

RIYADH: The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts and Namaa Almunawara signed a strategic memorandum of understanding in Riyadh to foster collaboration in supporting traditional arts.

The aim is to advance the creative economy and preserve national cultural heritage, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

The MoU focuses on key areas: building human capacity through training programs and workshops, offering consulting services, and designing specialized initiatives.

It also aims to strengthen the handicrafts sector by launching entrepreneurial initiatives, enhancing craft products, and empowering emerging talents.

Additionally, it includes organizing local and international events and developing community-focused traditional arts initiatives.

The institute plays a key role in promoting Saudi traditional arts locally and internationally, supporting artisans, and encouraging the teaching and development of these crafts.

The Ministry of Culture has designated 2025 the Year of Handicrafts to celebrate cultural heritage and promote the creation, preservation, and modern relevance of handicrafts. It will host events, exhibitions, educational programs, and competitions throughout the year.


Gerard Butler to touch down in Riyadh for ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ premiere

Updated 33 min 22 sec ago
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Gerard Butler to touch down in Riyadh for ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ premiere

DUBAI: Riyadh will host the first stop of the international press tour for “How to Train Your Dragon,” the live-action adaptation of DreamWorks Animation’s film franchise, with actor Gerard Butler set to arrive in the Kingdom this May.

Butler returns as Stoick the Vast in the upcoming film, slated for release on June 12. 

Butler returns as Stoick the Vast in the upcoming film, slated for release on June 12. (Supplied)

“How to Train Your Dragon” is directed by three-time Oscar nominee Dean DeBlois, the filmmaker behind the original animated trilogy.

“On the rugged isle of Berk, where Vikings and dragons have been bitter enemies for generations, Hiccup (Mason Thames; The Black Phone, For All Mankind) stands apart. The inventive yet overlooked son of Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler, reprising his voice role from the animated franchise), Hiccup defies centuries of tradition when he befriends Toothless, a feared Night Fury dragon. Their unlikely bond reveals the true nature of dragons, challenging the very foundations of Viking societ,” the film’s logline reads. 

“As an ancient threat emerges, endangering both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup’s friendship with Toothless becomes the key to forging a new future. Together, they must navigate the delicate path toward peace, soaring beyond the boundaries of their worlds and redefining what it means to be a hero and a leader,” the logline adds. 
The film also stars Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), Gabriel Howell (Bodies), Bronwyn James (Wicked), Harry Trevaldwyn (Smothered), Ruth Codd (The Midnight Club), BAFTA nominee Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Murray McArthur (Game of Thrones).


Works by renowned 20th-century Latin American artists presented in new exhibition in Doha

Updated 06 May 2025
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Works by renowned 20th-century Latin American artists presented in new exhibition in Doha

DOHA: One of revered Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s best-known paintings is now on display at the National Museum of Qatar. Titled “Baile en Tehuantepec” (“Dance in Tehuantepec”) and completed in 1920, it depicts a group of female Oaxacan dancers dressed in bright costumes poised to begin the Zandunga dance. The painting, like others by Riviera at the time, aimed to depict the social life of Mexico. With time, the work, exhibited a few years later at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, became one of the most expensive paintings in Latin American art.

Lam, Wilfredo, Omi Obini, ALTA. (Supplied)

Nearly a century after Riviera painted the work, it is on show in Doha in “LATINOAMERICANO,” a comprehensive exhibition running until July 19. Showcasing over 170 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, installation, video, photographs, films and archival documentation by over 100 artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Paraguay, Mexico, Venezuela and Uruguay, the exhibition offers an in-depth look at Latin American art from 1900 to the present in what marks the first-ever show of its kind in West Asia and North Africa for the genre.

The exhibition, organized in partnership with Qatar Museums, is a pivotal aspect of the Qatar, Argentina and Chile 2025 Year of Culture. It presents modern and contemporary artworks from the collections of Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Eduardo F. Costantini and Qatar Museums institutions like Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Future Art Mill Museum, among others.

Rivera, Diego, Baile en Tehuantepec, 1928, Colección Eduardo F. Costantini. (Supplied)

Curated by Issa Al-Shirawi, a Qatari curator, researcher and head of international exhibitions at Qatar Museums, and Maria Amalia Garcia, curator in chief at Malba, the show ambitiously strives to capture the diverse art and culture of an entire continent.

“The exhibition promotes an exchange of knowledge through art, continuing Qatar Museums’ emphasis on showing art histories from underrated and underappreciated art histories,” Al-Shirawi told Arab News, underlining how Latin American artists have consistently challenged narratives, readapted local traditions and influenced artistic movements across the world.

There are several pieces Al-Shirawi notes that highlight the artistic exchange between the Middle East and Latin America.

Candido Portinari. Festa de Sao Joao, 1936. (Supplied)

One is by Uruguayan-born artist Gonzalo Fonseca who traveled to the Middle East during the 1950s where he visited archaeological sites that made a lasting impact on his sculptural work, highly conceptual with great references to architectural forms.

Another is a vibrant painting by Lebanese-born artist Bibi Zogbe, who emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina and became known throughout South America as “la pintura de flores” (“the flower painter”).

These works are displayed alongside those of both globally renowned artists from the continent, like Colombian artist Fernando Botero, Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, Belkis Ayon, also from Cuba, known for her work on African influences in the Caribbean island, and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, among many others.

Candido Portinari. Festa de Sao Joao, 1936. (Supplied)

The exhibition’s in-depth thematic sections provide a first taste for those new to Latin American art.

“At first, we thought we would organize the show chronologically, but then we realized that it was crucial to show the connections between traditional art and various modern and contemporary movements and what influenced these,” Al-Shirawi aid. “How does the traditional translate back into the contemporary? And how does the contemporary go back to the traditional?

A poignant multisensory installation that demonstrates this and that, in Al-Shirawi’s opinion, serves as one of the “anchor” works for the exhibition is by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna. Titled “Quipu desparecido” (“Disappeared Quipu,” 2018), it refers to the Andean civilization’s quipus — knotted strings made of colored and spun or plied wood or llama hair — used to record information. The practice was crucial to societal organization across the ancient Incan Empire but was decimated by the Spanish colonization. Vicuna’s artwork pays homage to these important threads to reactivate the memory of the quipus, which she refers to as a “poem in space, a way to remember, involving the body and the cosmos at once.”


Imaan Hammam suits up for 2025 Met Gala

Updated 06 May 2025
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Imaan Hammam suits up for 2025 Met Gala

DUBAI: Fashion’s biggest night got underway this week at the Met Gala in a rainy Manhattan, and part-Arab celebrities turned heads with their looks. 

Dutch Egyptian Moroccan model Imaan Hammam donned a white tailored suit by Polish designer Magda Butrym, featuring a fitted waist, structured shoulders and wide-leg trousers. She paired it with a black shirt and a polka dot tie. 

Her look included a black cane with a silver handle and silver pointed-toe heels. She topped off the outfit with a black headpiece made of flowers and long feathers.

Dutch Egyptian Moroccan model Imaan Hammam donned a white tailored suit by Polish designer Magda Butrym. (Getty Images)

Among the guests was, of course, US Dutch Palestinian model Gigi Hadid.

The runway star wore a metallic gold halter-neck gown with a fitted silhouette and a gathered waist. The dress featured sequins and embellishments throughout, along with a slight train that extended behind her. 

She completed the look with statement earrings and styled her hair in soft vintage waves with a rolled front section.

Among the guests was, of course, US Dutch Palestinian model Gigi Hadid. (Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia-based Argentine model Georgina Rodriguez wore a black satin gown with lace detailing along the neckline and waist. The dress featured a thigh-high slit and a floor-length train. She accessorized her look with pointed black heels and a diamond necklace. 

This year’s Met Gala marks two major milestones: it is the first to spotlight Black designers, and the first in over two decades to center on menswear. The theme was inspired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”

Saudi Arabia-based Argentine model Georgina Rodriguez wore a black satin gown with lace detailing along the neckline and waist. (Getty Images)

The event was co-hosted by Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo and A$AP Rocky.

Rihanna closed out the evening in signature fashion, revealing her newly announced baby bump. Her Marc Jacobs look included tied sleeves of a men’s suit that served as a bustle behind her as she posed for the cameras.

A$AP Rocky, who is both co-chair and the father of Rihanna’s child, responded to congratulations on the carpet. “It feels amazing. It’s time that we show the people what we was cooking up. And I’m glad everybody’s happy for us ‘cause we definitely happy, you know,” he told reporters on the red carpet. 


Met Gala pays tribute to Black fashion and designers and includes Rihanna pregnancy surprise

Updated 06 May 2025
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Met Gala pays tribute to Black fashion and designers and includes Rihanna pregnancy surprise

  • Rihanna has shut down the rain-soaked Met Gala in a Marc Jacobs menswear-inspired look with a pinstripe jacket as a bustle
  • The gala raises the bulk of the annual budget for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and this year took in a record haul: $31 million

NEW YORK: Rihanna shut down a rainy Met Gala on Monday in a pinstripe look and a huge hat, her newly announced baby bump on display after announcing her pregnancy with baby No. 3 earlier in the day.
Her Marc Jacobs look included tied sleeves of a men’s suit that served as a bustle behind her as she posed for the cameras, the last to walk the carpet as usual. Her hair hung long in a mermaid twist behind her.
Men’s suiting and tailoring was the evening’s theme. It came complete with a tuxedoed choir and lots of women rocking pinstripes and other men’s detailing. Emma Chamberlain, Zendaya, Teyana Taylor and many other women went with traditional men’s detailing.
Chamberlain and Zuri Hall were among those who wore sleek, sexy gowns that play on men’s suiting in pinstripes as they walked up the grand steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Zendaya, a co-host last year, wore a perfectly tailored white trouser suit with a matching wide-brim hat from Louis Vuitton.
Janelle Monáe epitomized the night’s theme, the Black dandy, in exaggerated pinstripes by Thom Browne. Lauryn Hill honored menswear in a butter yellow suit with exaggerated tailoring that screamed Black power.
The menswear vibe for women was frequent and expected, “women wanting to maintain a traditionally feminine dress silhouette while still respecting the theme,” said William Dingle, director of style for blackmenswear.com, a cultural impact agency that focuses on uplifting Black men.
Alicia Keys and her husband, Swizz Beatz, leaned WAY in on the pinstripes in red. She rocked a head of bejeweled braids. He rocked a do-rag.
Doja Cat, always fearless when it comes to fashion, donned a Marc Jacobs bodysuit look with orange and black wildcat detailing and broad-shouldered pinstripes. Taylor went for a stunning Zoot Suit look with a red, feather-adorned top hat and a huge matching cape dripping with flowers and bling. She collaborated with famed costumer designer Ruth E. Carter.
The Zoot was popularized in Harlem in the 1940s.
Madonna, “no stranger to gender-bending fashion,” Dingle said, showed up in a monochrome taupe tuxedo clutching a cigar. It was Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann, the designer who took over when Ford stepped aside.
Kylie Jenner, in Ferragamo, mimicked men’s tailoring in a gray and black corseted look, while sister Kim Kardashian went embossed black leather dandy, vamping under a tall black hat. Her custom look was by Chrome Hearts. It was low slung and open at the hip with broad straps at the back.
Sister Kendall Jenner was in an elegant skirt and jacket, the most subdued of the three. The designer was the British-Nigerian-Brazilian designer Torishéju Dumi.
And then there were the bombshells ...
Megan Thee Stallion in Michael Kors and Dua Lipa in black Chanel included. Megan’s look had a high side slit and floral lace embellishment. Lipa was giving elevated flapper in feathers and an “S” curl style for her hair. And Miley Cyrus oozed womanhood in a custom cropped black crocodile jacket and long black taffeta skirt by Alaïa.
Diana Ross, meanwhile, swallowed the carpet in a huge white train, escorted by her son, Evan Ross.
Lizzo debuted blonde hair to go with her pink and black Christian Siriano gown with a plunge at the front. It was so tight at the legs she struggled to walk.
Cardi B, who always goes big at the Met Gala, stunned in a low-cut Burberry pantsuit. She showed off a new hairstyle and eye color, appearing to wear green contacts to match her ivy-colored look.
The standouts among the men
As for the men, co-host A$AP Rocky told The Associated Press that Anna Wintour suggested he wear a Black designer.
“So I wore myself,” the musician said of his custom suit designed by his creative agency, AWGE, complete with a black parka and diamond-crested umbrella. “Everything is designed by yours truly.”
Rocky, Rihanna’s partner and dad to their two kids, confirmed to reporters that baby No. 3 in on the way. He spoke about it after Rihanna was photographed walking in the rain with her baby bump out in a blue crop top and skirt.
“It feels amazing, you know,” Rocky said. “It’s time that we show the people what we was cooking up. And I’m glad everybody’s happy for us ‘cause we definitely happy, you know.”
He added: “Honestly, it’s a blessing nonetheless. Because you know how like some people in other situations at times can be envious of other people. But we’ve been seeing love for the most part. And we real receptive to that and appreciate that, you know what I mean? That’s love. Love is love.”
The dress code explained
What, exactly, was the suggested dress code of the night, “Tailored for You,” is inspired by Black dandyism. And what, exactly, is the Met Gala for? To raise money for the Met’s Costume Institute. The gala raised a record $31 million before it began.
Marie Claire, editor in chief of Marie Claire, noted a few trends done well.
“Top trends from the night: Black and white (Zoe Saldaña, Whoopi Goldberg, Gabrielle Union), pinstripes (Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats), suiting (Lupita Nyong’o, Ego Nwodim), hats (Lupita Nyong’o, Whoopi Goldberg and Teyana Taylor).”
More on the men
Colman Domingo, one of the evening’s hosts, wore a pleated, gold adorned cape over a gray and black suit, his jacket a pearled windowpane design with a huge dotted black flower. His look, including his cape and a dotted black scarf at his neck, evoked the late André Leon Talley, the fashion icon who made history as a rare Black editor at Vogue.
Domingo, in Valentino, arrived with Vogue’s Wintour, dressed in a pastel blue coat over a shimmery white gown by Louis Vuitton, a gala sponsor. Fellow co-chair Lewis Hamilton donned a jaunty ivory tuxedo with a cropped jacket, a matching beret and cowrie shell embellishment.
Hamilton’s look carried deep meaning.
“The color of ivory denotes purity and status; cowries pass from hand to hand, the regal sash turns shamanic,” he wrote on Instagram.
Claire Stern, Elle digital director added: “Known for championing Black designers, the F1 star once again used his platform to celebrate heritage and creativity on one of fashion’s biggest stages.”
Domingo has epitomized contemporary dandyism in a variety of looks over the years.
Pharrell Williams, another co-host, was demure in a double-breasted, beaded evening jacket and dark trousers. He kept his dark shades on while posing for the cameras. Williams walked with his wife, Helen Lasichanh, in a black bodysuit and matching jacket.
Williams, the Louis Vuitton menswear creative director, said his 15,000 pearls were arranged in a pinstripe design and the jacket took 400 hours to construct.
Walton Goggins, a guest this year with others from “The White Lotus,” wore a deconstructed suit look with seams out and a pleated skirt he twirled for the cameras.
LeBron James, the NBA superstar, was named honorary chair of the evening but bowed out at the last minute due to a knee injury.
Other Met Gala looks that stood out
Monica L. Miller, whose book inspired the evening, wore a bejeweled cropped cape over a dress adorned with cowrie shells by Grace Wales Bonner. It’s a direct connection to a piece in the gala’s companion Metropolitan Museum of Art spring exhibit that Miller guest curated.
What other women killed the menswear game? Coco Jones in an ivory tuxedo coat with a train over matching trousers, both covered in chunky embellishment.
“Coco Jones absolutely leaned in,” Dingle said. “I love the pearl and gem embellishments here, as well as the long coat, and even the necklace. Because she’s taller, the long coat even further elongates her legs. This is a fantastic look.”
Her look was by Indian designer Manish Malhotra. She said she wanted to honor Black excellence by going all out.
Gigi Hadid, on the other hand, went all woman. She pulled up the spirit of Josephine Baker in a shimmery velvet gold halter gown by Miu Miu that hugged her hips, hip hugging being a big trend of the night for the women.
Bad Bunny, ever a fashion rebel, wore a custom black Prada suit. The best detail: his woven hat, which appeared to be a reference to the pava, a straw hat associated with the Puerto Rican jíbaro.