ISEA2026 fills Dubai with free digital art until 15 November

ISEA2026, the 31st International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art, is running across Dubai until Sunday 15 November, and most of what it puts in front of the public costs nothing. The festival of art, science and technology opened on 6 November and was officially inaugurated on 7 November, the Dubai Media Office said, with a projection on the facade of Burj Khalifa and an interactive show called ELYAH at ARTE Museum in The Dubai Mall.

The symposium is hosted by Dubai Culture with Zayed University, under the theme "ELYAH: Constellating Place, Data and Identity". It is the first time the travelling event, founded in the Netherlands in 1990, has come to Dubai, and the Media Office describes this edition as the largest yet. The artistic programme counts more than 100 works, from installations and performances to interactive pieces, spread over about 20 locations, among them Al Safa Art and Design Library, Etihad Museum, Kanvas, Foundry Gallery, ARTE Museum, TODA (Theatre of Digital Art) at Madinat Jumeirah and projection mapping at Al Wasl Dome.

At ARTE Museum, ELYAH turns the old navigation star into a light and sound piece: visitors step on an interactive star to start a sequence that links Dubai's seafaring past with its future. Works shown there include Quantum Memory Fossils by Taeyoung Ahn, Cosmic Balance by Ina Hur and Serkan Jolboldin, and Saving Aesthetics by Orkhan Mammadov, who reworks traditional patterns in digital form.

The symposium was first planned for April and moved to November after the organisers consulted their partners. Alongside the city programme runs an online academic programme of 145 papers, more than 50 artist talks and panels and over 10 workshops, which is open to people anywhere.

Hours differ by venue. The festival site lists ARTE Museum from 10am to 10pm until 15 November, Kanvas on Al Khayat Art Avenue from 10am to 5pm until 15 November, and TODA from 3pm to 8pm until Tuesday 10 November, so the performances there end first.

To go, register for the free artistic programme on the ISEA2026 website. Registration gives you a personal QR code that is scanned at the participating venues. The online academic programme is the only paid part: Dh180, or Dh90 for students with a university email address. The festival's ELYAH digital companion on the same site builds a route of artworks and events for you, which helps with venues spread from Al Quoz to Expo City. Check each venue's hours before you set off, as they can change during the week.