Abu Dhabi is transforming into a global cultural hub with the opening of teamLab’s immersive digital art museum on Saadiyat Island. The 183,000 square foot museum features the Tokyo-based art collective’s most ambitious and technically challenging works to date. TeamLab’s installations harness air, light, and water to create ephemeral, kinetic environments that immerse visitors completely.
In one installation, floating silver balls converge into spinning tornado-like formations, enveloping visitors in a cocoon of silver balloons. In another, visitors walk through a shallow pool where translucent ovoids dance on the water’s surface, glowing and emitting sounds when pushed. “TeamLab has been exploring ways to create art that is continuous with the body and transforms through the presence of people,” said Toshiyuki Inoko, a mathematician and one of teamLab’s founders.
The museum also features highlights from teamLab’s other global projects, such as the immersive “Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers,” reimagined on a colossal 360-degree sphere traversed by walking across a wobbly mesh net.
Digital art at Saadiyat Island
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, believes teamLab adds a significant dimension to the Saadiyat Cultural District by merging art, nature, and technology.
The immersive exhibitions are designed to enhance sensory and emotional experiences beyond typical social media-driven installations. TeamLab’s museum is just one part of Abu Dhabi’s ambitious post-oil strategy. The city has invested over $4.1 billion into tourism in the past five years, with more mega-museums on the way, including a new Guggenheim, a natural history museum, and the Zayed National Museum.
Non-oil sectors now account for more than 50% of Abu Dhabi’s GDP, and the city is attracting hedge fund heavyweights and global events like NBA games and Coldplay concerts. The emirate plans to create 30,000 to 35,000 new jobs in the tourism sector alone this year. As Abu Dhabi continues to invest in culture, lifestyle, and global finance, it is quickly becoming the Middle East’s most compelling growth story and a global power hub.
