Manarat Al Saadiyat
Cultural Foundation
Umm Al Emarat Park
NYU Abu Dhabi
Delma Museum
Megan Cope
Megan Cope is a multidisciplinary artist and Quandamooka woman from the Moreton Bay region of South East Queensland, Australia.
Her works are informed by her community and heritage. Cope creates sculptural installations, public art and has a socially engaged practice focusing on Indigenous stewardship, cultural continuum and custodial ethics as contemporary art practice. Recently, she created living sculptures as forms of Land Art in the intertidal zone on her ancestral home.
Cope’s work is deeply rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems and collaborative processes, highlighting the interrelations of land and sea ecosystems and connecting communities. She has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally, and her art often invites public participation, blurring the lines between maker, material, and audience.
Her work has been featured in numerous international group exhibitions, including Sharjah Biennial 16: to carry, Sharjah; Hawai’i Triennial 25: Aloha Nō, Honolulu (2025); Soils, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2024); Busan Biennale 2022: We, On The Rising Wave, Busan; and Reclaim the Earth, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2022).
Image credit: Rhett Hammerton
Bayt al-Mahār
Bayt al-Mahār is a nomadic gathering house, a transient structure developed by artist Megan Cope and designed in collaboration with THIRD SPACE* Studio.
The Bayt al-Mahār is informed by Megan’s socially-engaged artistic practice which creates space for intercultural dialogue and learning, where land and sea, memory and community come together for knowledge sharing.
Through a series of resonant social gatherings, the Bayt al-Mahār will center local perspectives and connections to the saltwater stories surrounding the shores of Abu Dhabi.
Each iteration of Bayt al-Mahār has been put together locally by Rashed Aljouni in collaboration with the Artist and host venue to make every activation unique and site specific.
“The Bayt al-Mahār is a place for storytelling where we can connect, share and learn together about the significance of oysters.” - Megan Cope
All events will be recorded to develop a living archive of Bayt al-Mahār.
The Scrub Club
The practice of the social Scrub Club is informed by notions of First Nations stewardship both on Land and Sea and the shared custodial responsibilities of Caring for Country. The gatherings will use storytelling and collective making to centre the pearl oyster and generate dialogue on saltwater ecologies within the Gulf and abroad.
Together with Megan, the community will contribute to a major forthcoming commission for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi through the Scrub Clubs.
Bayt al-Mahār will host a dynamic series of talks, presentations, workshops and films centered on maritime culture, local history, food production, handicrafts, contemporary Emirati cultural and environmental aspirations.
Image credit: Rashed Ajlouni
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a museum of modern and contemporary art that connects cultures, inspires people, and celebrates art from the 1960s to the present, with a focus on West Asia, South Asia, North Africa, and the wider region. Through its exhibitions, programmes, and collection, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will share new knowledge and insights on modern and contemporary art from around the world.
Designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, in a landmark location between land and sea, the museum is as awe-inspiring from the outside as it is extraordinary within. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is more than a place to view art—it is an invitation to be transformed, moved, and inspired. It is a space for visitors to come together, meet, and connect—whether immersing themselves for hours or simply dropping in.
Part of the vibrant Saadiyat Cultural District, the museum is rooted in Abu Dhabi a global capital home to more than 200 nationalities—offering a unique perspective on the art of our times. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi deepens our understanding, expands our perspectives, and offers new ways for people to experience art.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi: New perspectives on the art of our times.
Image credit: Gehry Partners
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Pinctada Radiata
to dive into the program.
Cultural Foundation
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Umm Al Emarat Park
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NYU Abu Dhabi
Tap the Mahār /
Pinctada Radiata
to dive into the program.
Delma Museum
Bayt al-Mahār Architects:
Third SPACE* Studio
THIRD SPACE* Studio is a multidisciplinary architectural practice based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The studio was established to critically examine the relationship of shifting cultural and urban landscapes within the broader global context of contemporary and historical transfers of bodies, cultural productions, and ideas. The practice's methodologies aim to expand the discourse of architecture within the region, investigate the interactions between humans and objects within this space, and uncover the knowledges that emerges from such inquiries.
The practice’s interdisciplinary approach is inspired by the concepts of thirdness, liminality, and in-betweenness. Developed by the postcolonial theorist Homi K. Bhabha, the ‘third space’ proposes that when two opposing cultures interact, their encounter opens up a hybrid site that invites negotiation and exchange. THIRD SPACE* Studio operates at this intersection, exploring how three-dimensional design can convey culturally complex stories.
These lines of inquiry are pursued through three primary branches: artwork, architecture, and research. Through public practice methodologies, the studio produces work that critically engages with these complex interrelationships.
The studio was co-founded in 2021 by architects Abdullah Alamoudi and Mohsin Ali.
Special thank you to Environment Agency Abu Dhabi:
The pearl oysters collected as part of the Bayt al-Mahār have been generously donated by the Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi for this commission.
Thank you!
The artist wishes to thank artists, participants and hosts who have made Bayt al-Mahār a memorable experience for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The shells will be collectively cleaned in our communal Scrub Club and then crafted by Megan Cope into a large-scale suspended pearl shell sculpture inspired by relations between the moon and the sea, seasonal migration and natural cycles occurring ecologically on both land and sea in the UAE. Over 100,000 shells will be required to create this new monumental artwork for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. The sculpture will speak to the seagrass beds, coral reefs and seaweeds that provide the habitat for growth and development of the pearl shells.
Map and visuals designed by Mostafa Zohdy