drift presents a triptych of light across jubail island, abu dhabi
DRIFT brings three new large-scale light installations to Manar Abu Dhabi, transforming Jubail Island into an illuminated landscape of shifting wind, data, and memory. Part of the outdoor festival’s second edition, running until January 4th, 2026, the works are staged within mangroves, tidal waterways, and open sky, allowing technology and environment to operate as a single system.
Across Jubail Island, the three installations introduce different modes of engagement. Whispers unfolds at ground level within the grassland, Unfold operates as an interactive AI-driven environment responding to visitors’ heartbeats, and Wind of Change expands into the sky through a 2,000-drone performance. Together, they span landscape, body, and atmosphere, using light, movement, and real-time data to examine how human presence intersects with the natural setting of the island.
all images by Arjen van Eijk, Xinix Films
whispers, unfold & wind of change explore ground, body, and sky
The Dutch duo’s contribution includes three distinct encounters. Whispers (2025) places 500 illuminated elements among wild Guinea grass, echoing its proportions and its instinctive ability to bend with the wind. Instead of towering over the landscape, each glowing tip aligns with the height of the viewer, collapsing hierarchies between artwork, environment, and human presence. As breezes move through the installation, the field responds with a rippling light pattern that feels both orchestrated and accidental, a reminder that adaptation is nature’s quiet superpower.
Unfold (2025) turns biometric data into a fleeting digital sculpture. Visitors’ heartbeats are measured in real time and translated into a shifting audio-visual display that blossoms like a character-driven flower. Every pattern, rhythm, and chromatic decision stems from the body’s internal tempo, making the artwork less a spectacle and more a moment of self-recognition.
The most expansive work, Wind of Change (2025), animates the sky with 2,000 coordinated drones. Their flight traces invisible natural forces, wind currents, oceanic movement, and the gradual sculpting of dunes. The shapes in the sky move from abstraction toward a collective symbol, the falcon, emblem of Abu Dhabi, crossing the night before dissolving into a vortex that releases drifting seeds. The narrative lands on renewal rather than finale, imagining the city as something continuously forming rather than fixed.
DRIFT brings three new large-scale light installations to Manar Abu Dhabi
an illuminated landscape of shifting wind, data, and memory
Whispers unfolds at ground level within the grassland
each glowing tip aligns with the height of the viewer
allowing technology and environment to operate as a single system
Wind of Change expands into the sky through a 2,000-drone performance
tracing natural forces, wind currents, oceanic movement, and the gradual sculpting of dunes
the shapes in the sky move from abstraction toward a collective symbol
a vortex that releases drifting seeds
Unfold (2025) turns biometric data into a fleeting digital sculpture
Visitors’ heartbeats are measured in real time
a shifting audio-visual display that blossoms like a character-driven flower
every pattern, rhythm, and chromatic decision stems from the body’s internal tempo
a moment of self-recognition
project info:
name: Whispers (2025), Unfold (2025), Wind of Change (2025)
artist: DRIFT | @studio.drift (Lonneke Gordijn & Ralph Nauta)
location: Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
festival: Manar Abu Dhabi 2025 | @publicartabudhabi
theme: The Light Compass
dates: November 15th, 2025 – January 4th, 2026
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