Dalia Hamati appointed curator of UAE’s Biennale Architettura 2027 participation
Architect and researcher selected to lead National Pavilion UAE's exhibition exploring the intersection of architecture, climate and water at Venice's 20th International Architecture Exhibition
The National Pavilion UAE has selected architect, educator and researcher Dalia Hamati to curate the nation’s participation in the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2027, taking place from 8th May to 21st November.
Hamati’s curatorial research, developed in collaboration with UAE-based practitioners and academics, will examine the profound relationship between architecture, climate and water. The exhibition will explore how innovative design might transform our understanding of water resources in an increasingly warm and urbanised world, presenting findings through both a physical exhibition and accompanying publication in Venice.
The selection followed an open call launched by the National Pavilion UAE—its fourth such initiative. The call welcomed submissions from architects, designers, artists, historians and researchers across the UAE and the broader Middle East, North Africa and South Asia regions, seeking proposals that illuminate overlooked narratives from the Emirates.
Supporting UAE’s creative voices
Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi, Minister of Culture, expressed the Ministry’s commitment to championing UAE architects, designers and researchers, enabling their participation in global discourse enriched by local and regional perspectives. He noted that Hamati’s work maintains deep connections to the Emirates whilst reflecting the nation’s spirit of innovation and creativity.
Angela Migally, Executive Director at the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation—commissioner of the National Pavilion UAE—affirmed the Foundation’s dedication to nurturing the UAE’s cultural ecosystem and establishing platforms where local insights engage meaningfully with international conversations. She emphasised that the exhibition’s examination of water and climate resonates both within the UAE and across borders, contributing to essential global dialogue around environmental sustainability.
Research grounded in place
Hamati described the exhibition as emerging from sustained engagement with the UAE’s distinctive relationship with water, climate and the built environment. She expressed confidence that the presentation will stimulate innovative perspectives on architecture’s capacity to foster resilience and ecological regeneration.
Laila Binbrek, Director of the National Pavilion UAE, highlighted Hamati’s proposal for its integration of architectural history, environmental research and design innovation. She noted that positioning the UAE’s unique approach to water and climate within global conversations demonstrates how place-based research can offer valuable insights into universal challenges.
An Assistant Professor at the American University of Sharjah’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, Hamati is a New York State-registered architect whose practice investigates architecture’s potential to restore ecological systems, drawing from the UAE’s pioneering responses to environmental concerns.
The exhibition will occupy the UAE’s permanent pavilion at the Arsenale – Sale d’Armi. This marks the UAE’s 16th participation in La Biennale di Venezia’s International Art and Architecture Exhibitions and its seventh at the International Architecture Exhibition. The 2027 Biennale operates under the theme “Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality,” curated by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu.
The National Pavilion UAE is commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Culture.
Source: WAM