NYU Abu Dhabi’s campus transforms into a vibrant gallery of ideas, emotions, and reflections during the Arts & Humanities Capstone Festival, running from March 20 to April 26. At the heart of this festival is the Visual Arts and Art History Capstone Collective, featuring the work of twelve talented students. Through diverse media and personal narratives, these young artists invite visitors to reflect on culture, memory, identity, and the environments that shape us.

Many of the projects explore deep connections to heritage and family. Moza Lootah’s The Pearl Series honors the UAE’s pearl-diving history with colorful paintings made from fish parts to represent different types of pearls. Shaikha Al Nuaimi focuses on her family’s dream of rebuilding their home in the Philippines in Chambers of a Coveted Dream. Using watercolor, digital painting, and 3D printing, she demonstrates the connection between memory, place, and belonging.

Themes of identity and self-representation can be seen in the works of Omar ElGamal and Shamma Alkaabi. In 4You, Omar ElGamal lets viewers reshape a digital version of himself, prompting questions on how society shapes our identities. Shamma Alkaabi reflects on the difficulties of fully expressing what we feel in Little by Little, My Haphazard Book of Musings, using simple but thoughtful forms that balance between clarity and confusion.

The intersection of nature, faith, and culture runs deep through this exhibition. Ajyad Al Khalifa’s A Materialistic Exploration and Elemental Embrace of the Quran focuses on materials mentioned in the Quran, creating minimalist pieces that highlight their beauty and meaning. Hassan Abuhaliga’s Palm Meetings is a collaboration with a fallen palm tree near campus. Using the tree’s natural patterns to create prints, he shows the quiet relationship between humans and nature.

Some artists tell deeply personal stories of labor, migration, and collaboration. Centering the lived experience of her mother and aunt, Bruna Araujo Pereira’s Da Família employs acrylic painting and woodcut prints to let us into the often brushed-off aggressions faced by domestic workers in Brazil. Insiya Motiwala’s In Stitches challenges how we think about artists and craftspeople, working with a block printer from Karachi and showing his creative process alongside the finished pieces.

Students also explore how different spaces affect us. Manal Aljaeedi’s Splintered You uses digital art and sculpture to show the way school spaces shape how we think and feel. Nora AlSuwaidi recreates a well-known UAE performance piece in Back and Forth, exploring how simple actions from childhood take on a new meaning when performed for an audience.

Finally, some artists focus on everyday moments and communication. Aayat Azim’s Through the Glass, into the Light captures how light transforms the NYUAD campus throughout the day, turning it into colorful, abstract paintings. In Wish I Was Born Without Something to Say Ahmed Alakberi uses collages and surreal imagery to express the frustration and difficulty of communicating our thoughts and feelings.

Together, these works create a collection of ideas and emotions that highlight both personal experiences and universal themes. This Art & Arts History Capstone show is open in the Art Center’s Project Space and The Cube until March 30, with everybody being invited to step inside and experience how art can illuminate the world around us.