The voices that shape art: Guggenheim Abu Dhabi invites you to speak

There exists a particular moment in contemporary art when the boundary between observer and creator dissolves entirely. This is the territory Guggenheim Abu Dhabi now enters with The Network of Answers, a participatory commission that reimagines what it means to contribute to a work of art. Rather than presenting a finished vision, the museum invites visitors to become its architects.

Artist Agatha Gothe Snape has conceived an installation of elegant simplicity yet profound ambition. Within the immersive environment, visitors are encouraged to pick up a telephone and record their responses to four carefully considered questions. There is no expectation of eloquence, no pursuit of the perfectly articulated answer. Instead, what is sought is the unvarnished truth of personal perspective, the hesitation and honesty that characterise authentic human thought.

These recorded voices, collected across the duration of the exhibition, will be woven into the fabric of the final artwork. Some responses may be incorporated into the piece as it takes shape, creating a living document of collective consciousness. The notion that your answer matters, that it will potentially endure within the museum’s walls, inverts the conventional relationship between art and audience. You are no longer merely witnessing creativity; you are essential to its realisation.

The setting chosen for this project carries its own significance. Al Qattara Oasis in Al Ain provides a contemplative landscape, a space removed from the immediate pulse of the city yet entirely of this region. The Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial context positions the work within a broader conversation about art’s role in public life, about how creativity might emerge from genuine encounter between artist and community.

What Guggenheim Abu Dhabi recognises through this commission is that the most profound artistic moments often arrive through proximity and participation rather than passive appreciation. By asking for your voice, Gothe Snape creates space for the multiplicity of human experience to be heard, recorded and ultimately transformed into something greater than any single perspective could achieve alone.

The Network of Answers runs from 23 October through 14 November 2026. Weekday hours extend from 4:00 in the evening until 11:00 at night, while weekend availability stretches until midnight. This extended evening schedule ensures that participation becomes accessible, that voices from all hours of the day might contribute to the emerging artwork.

Imagery courtesy of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (@guggenheimabudhabi).