Dana Almazrouei wants children to see art differently at Umm Al Emarat Park

Abu Dhabi: A visit to an art exhibition usually involves looking, observing and moving on. At Abu Dhabi’s Umm Al Emarat Park, children are given the opportunity and encouraged to do something different: touch, listen, experiment and contribute to the artworks themselves.

The approach focuses on ‘How the World Feels’, the theme of the Children’s Biennale taking place at Umm Al Emarat Park from 6 November to 6 December.

Presented by Abu Dhabi Festival, the event brings together seven new commissions by UAE artists and an installation by Indonesian artist Eko Nugroho to the park, where the programme places children’s experiences at the centre of its curatorial approach.

For curator Dana Almazrouei, the intention was not simply to bring art into a public park, but to reconsider how children encounter both art and the spaces around them.

“I wanted children to leave seeing the park a little differently. A place they might have visited many times suddenly becomes somewhere to discover stories or even experience something through touch and movement,” she says.

The idea is well ingrained in the way the installations have been developed. Rather than creating works for children to observe from a distance, Almazrouei sought artists interested in making them active participants, who are able to interpret and interact with the pieces in different ways.

“I encouraged them to think about children as active participants, capable of interpreting, questioning and even transforming an artwork,” she says during the preview tour.

The outdoor setting also influenced the curatorial process. The challenge for her, as curator, was working with the park itself. Unlike a conventional gallery, Umm Al Emarat Park is a changing environment, where the presence of trees, sounds, weather and visitors becomes part of the experience.

“The artworks needed to belong to that environment rather than compete with it,” Almazrouei says. “The park became part of the artistic experience.”

Learning through play

This approach also informs the Biennale’s emphasis on play. For Almazrouei, play is not an activity added to make art more appealing to younger audiences; it is a way for children to develop ideas, understand their surroundings and communicate.

“Play is how children make sense of the world. It’s how they test ideas, build relationships, solve problems and express things they might not yet have the words for,” she says.

To her, the freedom to express as a child is when they are allowed to explore without being told what they should learn or discover. And that is also where the park comes into play – its ‘natural way’.

“In a sense, children don’t need us to simplify art for them,” she says. “And I think the most meaningful artworks are often those that leave room for children to surprise us.”

She further explains how a child could spend twenty minutes with one installation and only a few seconds with another, but both experiences are valid, irrespective of how long they spend with them.

Workshops and tours

The programme extends beyond the installations through workshops for families on 6 and 7 November and 13 and 14 November, from 6.30pm.

The installations include a garden of memories, where children can draw an imaginary flower, or even create stamps from objects from the nature. They can touch and feel beehives and learn about bees and biodiversity.

Activities include drawing, weaving, lantern-making, sound exploration and collective art-making. Morning guided tours will also be available for schools throughout the exhibition period.

The tours are open to children of all ages and provide opportunities to engage with the artworks in an open-air setting that encourages curiosity and imaginative thinking.

“It is really about recognising that children experience the world differently from adults. They are naturally curious about things we often overlook,” Almazrouei added.

The Biennale also comes during the UAE’s 2026 Year of Family, placing an emphasis on shared experiences between children, parents and educators. For Almazrouei, however, the relationship children develop with the park may be as significant as their engagement with the artworks.

She describes them as custodians of the space, arguing that a sense of responsibility can grow from familiarity and connection.

“I hope that curiosity eventually becomes care. Because when children feel connected to a place, they are more likely to want to look after it,” she says.

Across the different artistic approaches, Almazrouei says she found a shared willingness to give children the freedom to make their own connections rather than prescribe what they should understand.

Working with the artists

Collaborating with the different artists to bring the installations to life was an experience the curator speaks of highly.
“What stayed with me was how differently each artist approached the idea of childhood,” she said.

Some explored memory and storytelling, others looked at sound, nature, care or the relationship they built with the environment.

“Yet across these very different approaches, there was a shared interest in giving children space to imagine and make their own connections,” she added.

The installations explore subjects including ecology, biodiversity, memory, Emirati culture and humanity’s relationship with nature. The international contribution comes through Eko Nugroho’s Kenangan Kunang-Kunang (Memories of Fireflies), an immersive work inspired by traditional Eastern Javanese lanterns.

Originally commissioned for National Gallery Singapore’s 2019 Gallery Children’s Biennale, the installation is being presented in Abu Dhabi through a partnership between the Singapore institution and Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF).