Maitha Ali Al Blooshi on ISEA2026 and the future of art and technology

Art and technology are becoming increasingly connected, opening up new ways for artists to explore ideas, experiment with different mediums, and engage with audiences. From artificial intelligence to digital environments, these developments are changing how we experience art and what creative practice can look like. 

With ISEA2026 now underway in Dubai, the conversation around art, technology, and identity is taking centre stage. We speak to Maitha Ali Al Blooshi, Director of Emerging Arts at Dubai Culture and Executive Director of ISEA2026, about the opportunity's technology presents for artists, the importance of creating space for emerging talent in the UAE, and how the region's cultural identity can shape the future of creative practice.

Where do you see the city’s emerging arts scene in the next five years, and what do you think it could become internationally?

Maitha Ali Al Blooshi

Over the next five years, I would like to see Dubai’s emerging arts scene deepen its capacity to develop original work through research and sustained experimentation. That means artists become increasingly confident in selecting the right medium and carrying an idea through to production and public presentation.

Internationally, Dubai has the potential to become a place where emerging artistic approaches are developed and shared, with perspectives shaped by the UAE’s culture, environment and urban experience. I would see progress in the quality of the work produced here and the contribution its artists make to international cultural dialogue.

Why was it important for the city to host this international symposium and what does its arrival represent for the region?

Maitha Ali Al Blooshi

Hosting ISEA gives Dubai’s creative community a chance to participate directly in a sustained international conversation about art, science, and technology. Artists working here can share their perspectives, encounter different methods and engage with researchers whose expertise may help them develop their practice.

For the region, its significance lies in the exchange it makes possible. Questions emerging from our cultural memory, environments and communities become part of a wider discussion. At the same time, residents and visitors can discover these practices through more than 100 artworks, including interactive installations and immersive experiences.

With AI, digital media and immersive technologies increasingly influencing artistic practice, where do you draw the line between technology as a creative collaborator?

Maitha Ali Al Blooshi

I think the distinction depends on the role technology plays in the artist’s decisions: it can help execute a defined intention, or it can introduce variations and responses that influence how an idea develops. With an interactive work, for example, the relationship between the system and the audience may become part of the artwork itself.

The artist’s responsibility remains central throughout that process, as they are the ones who choose the material or data and decide what the work communicates. Originality is closely connected to those choices and to the perspective the artist brings.

As Director of the Emerging Arts Department, how are you creating opportunities for young and emerging artists in the UAE, particularly those experimenting with new technologies and unconventional mediums?

Maitha Ali Al Blooshi

Our focus is on linking access to knowledge with opportunities to experiment and engage with audiences. An emerging artist may have a strong idea and need a better understanding of a particular technology, a collaborator from another discipline, or a setting in which to test how people respond to the work.

My advice to an emerging artist is to approach the program with a project or question in mind. Choose the sessions that relate to it, discuss your challenges with practitioners, and follow up on those conversations.

How can emerging art and technology help tell stories about Emirati culture and heritage while creating space for new perspectives?

Maitha Ali Al Blooshi

The theme ‘ELYAH: Constellating Place, Data, and Identity’ invites artists to examine how these elements shape one another. For Emirati culture and heritage, digital media can offer ways to bring memories, images, and accounts of place into conversation with contemporary experience.

The programme’s exploration of speculative archiving, for example, opens questions about memory and storytelling. Such approaches can encourage artists to consider whose perspectives an archive holds and how a younger generation might interpret it.
Place matters to the experience as well, with the projections at Al Wasl Dome showcasing how digital imagery can become part of architecture and collective viewing.

When ISEA2026 comes to a close, what would you most like to see left behind? How do you hope this edition will influence the next generation of artists, creatives, and cultural thinkers in the UAE?

Maitha Ali Al Blooshi

I would most like to see the relationships and knowledge generated through ISEA2026 become part of artists’ continuing practice, whether through an artist developing a clearer research question, finding a collaborator, or applying a technique in a new work. Those are tangible signs that the exchange has become useful.
For the next generation, I hope this edition builds the confidence to move between disciplines while remaining thoughtful about the tools they use and the stories they tell. Research, technical understanding, and artistic judgement can develop together.

Visit: isea-2026.isea-international.org