ArtDayME: Art Here 2025 — the fifth edition of the annual exhibition developed in collaboration with Louvre Abu Dhabi and Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille — is currently taking place beneath the museum’s iconic dome. This year’s exhibition continues to position regional and international contemporary art within a broader global dialogue, offering a focused look at new artistic responses emerging from the Japan and the wider MENA region.

Curated by Sophie Mayuko Arni, the 2025 edition unfolds around the theme “Shadows”, a concept that probes the interplay between presence and disappearance, light and opacity, and the layered dimensions of memory, identity, and transformation. The exhibition opened on 11 October and will remain on view through 28 December 2025. More than 400 proposals were reviewed before the final shortlist was selected.

Shortlisted Artists – Art Here 2025

Ahmed Al-Aqra (Palestine) – Architect and researcher whose work integrates art, philosophy, and spatial theory.

Jumairy (UAE) – Artist-musician known for digital performances that blur the boundaries between physical and virtual realities.

Ryoichi Kurokawa (Japan) – Media artist combining sound and visuals to craft immersive sensory experiences.

Hamra Abbas (Pakistan/UAE) – Artist revisiting Islamic aesthetics through contemporary lenses of gender, faith, and identity.

Rintaro Fuse (Japan) – Multidisciplinary artist working across painting, poetry, and film, exploring themes of urban alienation.

YOKOMAE et BOUAYAD (Japan/Morocco) – A collaborative duo merging the design vocabularies of Tokyo and Marrakesh through joint research and experimentation.

Phots credit: Louvre Abu Dhabi