Roudhah Al Mazrouei’s Reimagining of Emirati Heritage

There is something quietly profound in the way traditional adornment can become a bridge between generations, between memory and the present moment. At the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial 2026, artist Roudhah Al Mazrouei explores this very territory, taking the delicate aesthetics of Emirati head jewellery and reimagining it as an experience that unfolds through art, interaction and the creative voices of children.

Her work, titled Tassa, sits at Al Towayya Roundabout, a location chosen to meet people where they move through the city. The piece doesn’t simply present a historical object for contemplation. Rather, it invites us to engage with it, to think about what these ornaments have meant across time, and what they might mean now. By weaving collaboration with children into the artistic process, Al Mazrouei creates something layered: a dialogue between heritage and imagination, between the hands that traditionally crafted such jewellery and the minds discovering it anew.

The journey extends beyond the roundabout. Those who wish to deepen their encounter with the artist’s vision can continue to Al Qattara Oasis in Al Ain, where the broader context of this creative practice unfolds. It is a reminder that public art in Abu Dhabi functions not as isolated gesture but as invitation, as a way of moving through spaces we thought we knew and seeing them freshly.

The Biennial itself serves as a platform for such reimagining, a space where cultural heritage meets contemporary artistic practice, where the streets and public spaces of our city become galleries for dialogue. In Tassa, we find not nostalgia but vitality; not a museum piece but a living conversation about identity, beauty and what it means to carry our stories forward.