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ERTH Abu Dhabi will host the inaugural Craft & Code, a three-day exhibition presented by Abu Dhabi Retail, running from 30 January to 1 February 2026.
Conceived as a meeting point between heritage and invention, Craft & Code brings together designers, artists, and technologists working across disciplines, marking a defining cultural moment in Abu Dhabi.
Grounded in local and regional craft while embracing international world-firsts, the exhibition establishes a new benchmark for regionally led cultural storytelling. Craft & Code champions analogue making in dialogue with contemporary innovation, positioning Abu Dhabi as a global stage for creative exchange rooted in place, history, and forward thinking.
The exhibition’s roster reflects this ethos, featuring a cross-disciplinary lineup of designers and artists including IB Kamara, Abdalla Almulla, Yinka Ilori, Chef Warshaw, and CJ Hendry, each contributing original works and collaborations created for Abu Dhabi. Together, they explore the harmony between the handmade and the coded, the tactile and the technological.
Among the exhibition’s exclusives, Amouage, the Omani-rooted fragrance house, will premiere a never-before-released scent, unveiled in limited, numbered collector formats, as an homage to craftsmanship, rarity, and ritual.
British artist and designer Yinka Ilori, self-described as an “architect of joy,” will present a commissioned installation created specifically for Craft & Code. Known for his bold use of colour, pattern, and storytelling, Ilori’s work will animate the venue, transforming ERTH into a living canvas that invites play, optimism, and collective experience.
Craft & Code will open with an invitation-only gala in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Retail, before welcoming the public across two days of live demonstrations, workshops, and guided tours, designed to bring audiences into close contact with process, material, and makers.
“Our ambition is simple, to celebrate, archive and export Arab creativity to a global audience. Abu Dhabi embodies that ambition, modern and progressive, yet proud of its roots,” says Marne Schwartz, Managing Director of ITP Media Group.
At a moment when physical connection to craft is increasingly rare, Craft & Code offers a multisensory return to the handmade, inviting audiences to slow down, look closer, and engage with creativity through touch, sight, sound, and scent.
Craft & Code takes place at ERTH Abu Dhabi from 30 January to 1 February 2026, with public access on 31 January and 1 February.
