Selected artists for capacity building programs 2025–26

We are pleased to announce the selected participants for the 2025 edition of the 421 Artist Residency Program and the 2025–26 edition of the Artistic Research Grant.

Artistic residency program 2025
The residency program is open to both UAE-based and international artists through an annual open call, and provides dedicated studio spaces. This year the open call received over 200 applications from across the MENASA region, including Jordan, Lebanon, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, as well as from artists working in diaspora communities in the US, Latin America, and Europe. It also saw broader representation across all stages of artistic careers, from emerging to established practitioners.

The 421 Artist Residency Program is designed for creative practitioners who seek a dedicated studio space, time and space to experiment. The program allows artists to focus on research and development for new bodies of work, with access to critical support such as crit sessions and studio visits, production support, and other opportunities. 

Cohort I (February–July 2025):
Khaled Esguerra is a photographer, visual artist, and designer from Abu Dhabi whose practice explores migrant identity, urban narratives, and the claiming of space in the Gulf, shaped by his experience growing up in Abu Dhabi. 

Moza Almazrouei uses sculpture, film, and writing to explore material and mineral politics embedded within urban spaces. 

Tamara Barrage is a Lebanese artist and designer based in Dubai, whose work navigates the boundary between design and sculpture.

Cohort II (August–December 2025):
Reem AlHashmi is a contemporary multidisciplinary artist, born in the UAE, whose works are driven by the physical exploration of the human psyche through sculpture, installation, and textile dyeing. 

Utsa Hazarika is a research-based artist and writer whose practice, spanning video, installation, and sculpture, explores the intersections of power, memory, and resistance through interdisciplinary dialogue. 

UT-R Studio, the collaborative duo of Tasnim Tinawi and Uthra Varghese, investigates the many ways design can elevate the relationship between cultural context and the built environment.

Artistic Research Grant 2025–26
The grant is open to local and regional early-to-mid-career creative practitioners based anywhere in the world, making work relevant to the SWANASA region. It supports practice-based research investigating contemporary social issues through interdisciplinary methodologies and active engagement with the researcher’s community. Disciplines include, but are not limited to, visual art and curations, design and technology, literary arts, culinary arts, music, theater and performance. Selected artists apply through the grant‘s annual open call. 

The aim of the grant is to promote exploration, experimentation, and more accessible dissemination of knowledge within the arts community. With the provision of financial support, the grantees have the opportunity to focus on their research process and are encouraged to push their boundaries to experiment with new research methods. The grantees’ projects will culminate into a series of published research books with the hope of fostering public critical dialogue around the research topics. 

Selected artists
Amanny Ahmad is a Palestinian-American artist, cook, fellaha, writer, and folk herbalist whose artistic practice explores the relationships between humans, land, and non-human entities. 

Ayham Alloush is a multidisciplinary artist and sound and visual designer based in Berlin. His artistic practice ranges from sound installations to live performances.

Batha Collective is an artistic group composed of Bentley Brown, Tahir Ben Mahamat Zene, and Amparo Baquerizas. Their work spans research, filmmaking, and editorial design.

Gouled Ahmed is an Addis Ababa-based Somali visual artist, costume designer, and director. His multidisciplinary practice focuses on photography, film, and performance.

Sawsan Al Bahar and Bahar Al Bahar are a sibling duo. They are both architects, artists and researchers whose artistic practice is centred on the analogue-digital, and the material, formal, and conceptual crossovers in between.

For more information about 421 opportunities and open calls, as well as exhibitions, programs, and special events, visit 421.online.