Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
Under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in partnership with Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), has announced the winning project for The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2026.
The winners of the fourteenth edition of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award are Noora Jabir, a 2024 graduate of NYU Abu Dhabi, and Moufida Mohideen, a 2024 graduate of the University of Sharjah. Their interdisciplinary practice explores archaeology, material culture, and the relationship between communities and their environments.
Their winning work, Everyday Artifacts, examines how archaeological interpretation shapes cultural memory and our understanding of the past. Inspired by the prehistoric site of Tell Abraq, located between Umm Al Quwain and Sharjah, the installation explores how local knowledge and contemporary livelihoods can inform the interpretation of historical artifacts and sites.
Centred around the form of a partially buried fishing hook, a tool widely used at Tell Abraq thousands of years ago, the installation draws connections between ancient and contemporary relationships with the sea. While archaeological narratives often focus on rare discoveries, Everyday Artifacts instead highlights ordinary tools that reveal how communities lived, worked, and interacted with their environments.
Through this approach, the project invites audiences to reflect on how meaning is assigned to historical objects and who shapes our understanding of cultural heritage.
The artists developed the project under the mentorship of Uzma Z Rizvi, Professor of Anthropology and Urban Studies in the Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn.
Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and Founder and Artistic Director of Abu Dhabi Festival, said: “Under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, and in partnership with New York University Abu Dhabi, we are pleased to announce Noura Jaber and Mufida Mohiuddin as the winners of the 2026 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award for their exceptional work Everyday Artifacts. Inspired by artifacts unearthed at the archaeological site of Tell Abraq dating back to the third millennium BCE, the project transforms these humble tools into living symbols that reflect our collective consciousness and culture.”
“The winning work in the Award’s fourteenth edition embodies a unique artistic experience. Using historical fishing hooks to connect past and present livelihoods in the UAE, it explores the relationship between people and their environment, as well as the everyday tools that stand as authentic witnesses to the lives of our ancestors and to our enduring narrative across the ages. The work invites artists and the public alike to engage with our heritage and reinterpret it through a contemporary lens," she added.
Executive Director of The NYUAD Art Gallery and the University’s Chief Curator Maya Allison said: “At The NYUAD Art Gallery, we are committed to supporting emerging artists whose work sparks meaningful dialogue and engagement with contemporary issues. Everyday Artifacts offers a thoughtful reflection on how we interpret and connect with the past, inviting audiences to reconsider the role of ordinary objects in shaping cultural memory and historical understanding.”
The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award Director Emily Doherty said: “We are delighted to welcome Noora Jabir and Moufida Mohideen as the winners of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2026. The selection committee was impressed by the strength of the artists’ research and their ability to transform archaeological ideas into a compelling public installation. We look forward to supporting them through the production process alongside their mentor, Professor Uzma Z Rizvi.”
This year’s selection committee convened in Abu Dhabi to select a winner. On the panel were Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo; Executive Director of The NYUAD Art Gallery and Chief Curator Maya Allison; Director of Abu Dhabi Art Dyala Nusseibeh; Product Designer and Sculptor Azza Al Qubaisi; NYUAD Dean of Arts and Humanities and Professor of Drama, Social and Cultural Analysis Awam Amkpa; and guest juror, artist, educator and joint winner of The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2023 Majd Alloush.
Running annually since 2013 under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, presented by NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in partnership with Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, and produced in collaboration with the NYUAD Art Gallery, The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award serves as a launch pad for artists across the UAE. It encourages new artwork and offers winners insight into professional life as an artist, from commission to exhibition.
The programme is open to UAE-based students and recent graduates.
