Sara Alahbabi (b. 1994) is an Emirati conceptual artist and educator based in Abu Dhabi. Her practice explores the spatial and cultural dynamics of visibility and access, engaging with architecture and urban life as layered systems of memory, movement and belonging. Working across installation, photography, sound and sculpture, she uses everyday encounters to reflect on how environments are shaped – physically, socially and symbolically.
Alahbabi develops her work using a materially focused, process-led approach rooted in embodied research. Walking, particularly at night, has become a key methodology through which she navigates and observes the city’s quieter rhythms and atmospheric shifts. Through photographic documentation, mapping and spatial analysis, she examines how informal architectures, light and ambient detail construct experiences of presence and exclusion within urban space. Alahbabi’s installations often draw from these encounters, using materials such as concrete and light to reflect on form, memory and impermanence.