For the second Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, the Roudhah Al Mazrouei 2026 Colstoun Arts resident has realised a traditional bridal headpiece at the scale of a roundabout in her home city, and is the only work of the Biennial sited within the city of Al Ain itself.
‘Tassa’ by Roudhah Al Mazrouei situated within Al Ain
At Al Towayya Roundabout in Al Ain, Al Mazrouei has placed a gold headpiece with an eighty-metre diameter. Seen from the road, the true form of the Tassa is somewhat hidden; its red and green stones gather in clusters on the grass, like flowers, above a central gold dome worked with raised leaf motifs, from which chains of interlocking links extend to circular pendants, each set with bright stones.
A family heirloom at civic scale
The tassa is a disc-shaped gold headpiece, hung with fine chains and set with pearls and red and green stones, traditionally worn by Emirati brides at the henna celebration before their wedding. It is among the most recognisable forms of Emirati adornment, passed down through families and worn at gatherings across generations. This acknowledgement, understanding, and representation of one’s own culture within artistic expression is exactly what we hope to learn through ‘Carried Landscapes’, our programme dedicated to artists who bring their own ethnic or religious culture into their work.
a Traditional ‘Tassa’ golden headpiece
Roudhah's installation draws on a Tassa from her own family's collection. The piece still lives in her parents' home and has been worn by brides from her own family. For the artist, it speaks to the way culture is absorbed in childhood, through objects that are lived with rather than displayed. Tassa also continues an earlier line of enquiry. Her installation Reverie, shown at the Sikka Art and Design Platform in 2024, reimagined her mother's heirloom bracelet at monumental scale
“I want people to be reminded of the significance of their identity and carry it with them wherever they go”
The site is also personal. Roudhah grew up in Al Ain and went to school on the same street. She first conceived the work when she was younger, and returned to it for this Biennial, whose theme gave it a natural home.
Home, held in common
This edition of the Biennial, led by artistic director Elvira Dyangani Ose, takes as its theme Home: A Glossary for a Communal Sense of Place. It treats home not as a fixed address but as something shaped collectively, through memory, community and everyday encounter. ‘Tassa’ brings that idea into the street: an object worn close to the body, opened to the public realm and encountered daily by those who move through the city.
“For me this work and Al Ain are home for me, wherever I go I take them with me”
The Biennial brings together 21 artists and collectives from the UAE and abroad. Roudhah exhibits alongside fellow Emirati artists Khalid Al Banna and Shama Al Hamed, and international figures including Ibrahim Mahama, Laure Prouvost, Yinka Shonibare and Akram Zaatari. In Al Ain, Tassa is joined by three installations at Al Qattara Oasis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, by Asunción Molinos Gordo, Reena Saini Kallat and M'barek Bouhchichi.
“It is an honour to be part of something much larger than I am”
A practice rooted in memory and material
Born in Al Ain in 2003, Roudhah is an Abu Dhabi-based artist and researcher whose work explores cultural memory, ecological symbiosis and inheritance. She holds a BA in Art and Art History from NYU Abu Dhabi and an MFA from the Royal College of Art, London, and is a Kawader Research Fellow at al Mawrid Arab Centre for the Study of Art. Her paintings draw on materials carried from the UAE's landscapes and traditions, including sikham charcoal and snaah, a fragrant saffron paste.
Earlier this year, Roudhah spent six weeks at Colstoun House as part of our Carried Landscape program, a residency programme in which artists bring elements of their own cultural identity into their work. There she painted new works for her forthcoming exhibition with Taymour Grahne Projects in Dubai this December.
Information
Tassa is on view at Al Towayya Roundabout, Al Ain, until 15 February 2027.
The Biennial opens in Abu Dhabi on 15 November 2026, with installations at Mina Zayed, Souq Al Mina, Hidd Al Saadiyat and the Saadiyat Cultural District.
Admission is free.
