For centuries, Saadiyat Island was defined by its slower pace of life. Up until two decades ago, the 27-square kilometre expanse of pristine desert sands in the United Arab Emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi was a quiet haven where local boaters and residents would drop anchor, wading ashore with picnic baskets to spend long, leisurely afternoons by the glistening, turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf.
Even then, there was much talk about the new museums and massive cultural developments that now proliferate the island, but it was still a vision that had yet to be realised. Saadiyat Island existed largely outside of global consciousness.
These same shores now represent one of the most radically transformed and institutionally dense reconfigurations in cultural history. Driven by an ambitious state-led vision focused on economic diversification towards a sustainable, knowledge-based economy, with the idea of culture as infrastructure at the core, Saadiyat Island rapidly transformed into Saadiyat Cultural District and a regional and global capital for culture.
“I think Abu Dhabi’s artistic voice is shaped by the relationship between continuity and transformation,” said Maryam Al Falasi , founder of Iris Projects , the first commercial gallery which opened in MiZA in 2024.
“It is a city where histories, landscapes and ways of life are being reinterpreted alongside an extraordinary pace of change. This creates a particular condition for artists, who are negotiating questions of memory, identity, culture, urban transformation and belonging in ways that are deeply rooted in their own lived experiences.”
Opening in MiZa, says Al Falasi , was a deliberate decision. “I wanted Iris Projects to be part of Abu Dhabi’s evolving cultural landscape, in a district where new cultural infrastructure is taking shape. For me, it was important that the gallery contribute to this development rather than simply respond to it.”