teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will open to the public on 18 April within Saadiyat Cultural District Abu Dhabi
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teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will officially open its doors to the public in Saadiyat Cultural District Abu Dhabi on 18 April 2025, announced by the Department of Culture and Tourism—Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), Miral, the leading creator of immersive destinations and experiences in Abu Dhabi, and art collective teamLab. The 17,000 sqm multi-sensory art experience is operated by Miral Experiences, a subsidiary of Miral, and will include massive transformative exhibits that take guests on a sensory-rich journey that transcends the ordinary. The exhibits engage sight, sound, and touch, encouraging guests to expand the way they feel, connect and interact with the world around them. Sitting at the intersection of art, science, and technology, the artworks do not exist independently—the environment creates various phenomena that become the artwork, offering a dynamic, ever-evolving guest experience, and ensuring that no two visits will be the same. HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: 'Saadiyat Cultural District is a testament to Abu Dhabi's commitment to preserving heritage while embracing a forward-looking vision. The District will convey a message of cultural diversity that will become more powerful over time, creating global connections, inspiring cultural exchange, and fostering new ways of thinking to support the region, the global South and the world. We believe in the diversity of artistic expression and teamLab is the perfect partner to provide immersive art experiences that push the boundaries of art and technology. Together, we are redefining what is possible expanding our horizons and forging deeper connections in ways never seen before.'
HE added: 'Once opened, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will offer an immersive journey that sparks infinite curiosity and imagination in all who visit. At the intersection of art, technology, and nature, it will create a world of limitless wonder and creativity. Through these multi-sensory explorations, we are inspiring new generations of innovators, thinkers, and creators from Abu Dhabi and beyond.'
teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will feature a constantly transforming art experience unique to Abu Dhabi, conceived by the Tokyo-based art collective teamLab. The installations are part of teamLab's concept of 'Environmental Phenomena', created through an extensive experimentation process. Housed in a purpose-built structure, conceptualised and designed by teamLab Architects and realised by teamLab Architects and Abu Dhabi-based MZ Architects, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi's architecture will play an important role in providing the exhibits with an environment to evolve freely and organically.
Toshiyuki Inoko, Founder of teamLab, said: 'The artworks in teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi do not exist independently, but are created by the environment which produces the various phenomena that cause the artworks to exist. Up until now, things that humans have created have existed through matter, just like a rock, and have a stable structure in and of themselves. Unlike such things, the existence of the artworks in teamLab Phenomena are created by the environment. The environment produces the phenomena, and the environment maintains the existence of the structure. Let us call that existence environmental phenomena.'
'Existence will be freed from matter that has previously been responsible for its existence. Elements like air, water, and light that permeate our daily lives are transformed by their environment into unique phenomena that will become the existence. The boundaries of that existence are ambiguous and continuous. Even if people break the artwork apart, the work will remain in existence as long as its environment is maintained. Conversely, if the environment is not maintained, the work will disappear. Perhaps, people's consciousness will spread from existence itself to the environment. A rock will continue to exist even if it is placed in a sealed box isolated from the outside world, but life cannot maintain its existence if it is placed in such a closed box. Life is also an existence that is maintained by the environment. Life may be a miraculous phenomenon that emerges from a flow in an open and continuous world.'
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