Dutch art duo DRIFT has unveiled major installations at Manar Abu Dhabi, the citywide light-art festival transforming the coastline and mangroves under the theme “The Light Compass.”
Running from 15 November 2025 to 4 January 2026, the festival turns natural landscapes into illuminated stages for global artists.

For this edition, DRIFT presents Whispers, Unfold, and the new drone performance Wind of Change, all installed on Jubail Island’s tidal waterways and mangrove habitat.

Whispers animates a field of illuminated Guinea Grass, bending and glowing with the wind.

Unfold reads a visitor’s heartbeat and blooms it into a unique audiovisual “digital flower.”

Wind of Change lifts the experience into the sky with 2000 drones tracing shifting dunes, currents, and finally a glowing falcon dissolving into a vortex of light.

Manar Abu Dhabi, created by the Department of Culture and Tourism, continues expanding the city’s public art footprint with large-scale light sculptures and immersive interventions across its natural landscapes.

DRIFT’s practice has long explored the patterns and intelligence of nature through technology. These new works extend that dialogue into the open air of Abu Dhabi, where wind, water, and human presence become co-authors of the experience.

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