KAWS HOLIDAY: Abu dhabi -Unveiled
KAWS HOLIDAY: Abu Dhabi- November 15, 2025 - January 4, 2026
Photo from AllRightsReserved
The fifteenth stop of the KAWS: HOLIDAY exhibition series opens today in Abu Dhabi, bringing the inflatable Companion sculpture first presented in Shanghai at the North Bund Dock during the Mid Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) to a new international audience. The large scale work continues the artist’s global tour, which places his signature figure in dialogue with major cultural landmarks around the world.
Presented in partnership with AllRightsReserved and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, the installation shows Companion reclining on its back while holding a glowing moon. The installation will be on view from November 15, 2025, through January 4, 2026, as part of the city’s Second Annual Light Art Exhibition.
The Abu Dhabi presentation also carries forward a shift first introduced in Shanghai, where KAWS unveiled his initial illuminated version of the Companion figure during the Mid Autumn Festival. That debut marked a subtle evolution in the HOLIDAY series, expanding the work’s relationship with its surroundings by using light as both a visual anchor and a cultural gesture. The new installation builds on that idea by placing the glowing figure within a dedicated light art program, giving the piece a setting where its luminosity becomes central rather than incidental.
Photo from AllRightsReserved
KAWS: HOLIDAY has touched down in some wildly different corners of the world, drifting over Seoul’s Seokchon Lake, sprawling beneath Mount Fuji in Japan, lounging in the middle of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, and popping up across cities like Taipei, Singapore, Melbourne, and most recently San Francisco. Each stop reshapes the scale of his Companion character inside a new landscape, turning familiar skylines and natural backdrops into playful stages for a global art moment.
Photo from AllRightsReserved
What to Know
Exhibition: KAWS HOLIDAY: Abu Dhabi
Location: Souq Al Mina, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Dates: November 15 2025 – January 4, 2026
Viewing: Public Viewing Available.
