We designed, developed, deployed, and physically installed a unified digital art exhibition platform for the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, showcasing student artworks across 3D models, games, animations, and digital art at unprecedented speed.
The National Art Expressions programme is ADEK's flagship initiative to nurture creative talent across Abu Dhabi's schools: public, private, charter, and People of Determination institutions. The second edition in 2024 saw explosive growth: from 29 schools to 198, from 32 teachers to over 200, and from 6 artists to 15 local and international experts.
The challenge was not just scale. Students were producing work across fundamentally different digital formats: 3D models sculpted in Blender and Unity, interactive games, animations, motion graphics, digital collages, vector art, and photo manipulations. These needed to be presented on a single platform, bilingual, accessible, and ready for physical installation in a national gallery space.
The exhibition was opening at Manarat Al Saadiyat. The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi was attending. There was no room for delay.
Bilingual (Arabic/English) web application presenting 1,000+ artworks across four digital categories, with student attribution and school details.
Unified rendering of 3D models (Blender/Unity), interactive games, animations, motion graphics, digital collages, and vector art in a single interface.
Physical deployment and installation of the digital platform at Manarat Al Saadiyat: not just software delivery, but exhibition-ready installation.
System to catalogue, organise, and present artworks from 198 schools: handling student names, grades, schools, art categories, and digital assets at scale.
Student-created 3D sculptures and architectural models built in Blender and Unity, from heritage forts to the UAE Hope Probe.
Interactive games, vector art, and animations: playable cultural experiences like traditional recipe preparation games and desert wildlife spotters.
Digital performing arts: student-written dramatic works presented through the platform's multimedia capabilities.
Motion graphics, photo manipulations, and digital collages: students exploring UAE heritage and identity through visual design.
A portfolio website shows images. This platform had to render interactive 3D models, playable games, animated sequences, and video art, side by side, in a single unified interface, in two languages, at a quality standard appropriate for a national gallery.
The delivery timeline was fixed by the exhibition opening. When the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi is attending, you do not negotiate a deadline extension. The platform had to be designed, built, tested, and physically installed before the doors opened.
Every piece also carried attribution: student names, schools, grades, collaborative credits, across 198 institutions. This was not just a content management problem. It was an education data problem at exhibition scale.
3D renders, Unity exports, vector art, motion graphics, photo edits, and interactive games, each with different technical requirements, presented in one coherent interface.
Exhibition opening at Manarat Al Saadiyat with Crown Prince attendance. No staging period. No soft launch. It works on opening day or it doesn't.
This was not a cloud deployment. The platform was physically installed in a gallery, requiring hardware setup, display calibration, and on-site testing.
Full Arabic and English support: not just the interface, but student names, artwork titles, school names, and category descriptions across 1,000+ entries.
The programme expanded to include People of Determination institutions. The platform had to be accessible: not as an afterthought, but as a requirement.
The National Art Expressions exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat was a national-level event. The Crown Prince emphasised its role in supporting young Emirati artists and preserving UAE cultural heritage. The platform Hash Include built was the infrastructure that made the exhibition possible.
HE Sara Awad Issa Musallam, Minister of State for Early Education, Chairperson of ADEK
HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman, Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi
HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Secretary General, Abu Dhabi Executive Council
Primary exhibition venue for the 2024 National Art Expressions programme. Open to the public through March 2024.
ADEK collaborated with Louvre Abu Dhabi to feature student artworks at dedicated exhibitions, reflecting commitment to promoting emerging Emirati talent.
Additional exhibition partner for dedicated student artwork displays, extending the platform's reach across Abu Dhabi's cultural district.
The Department of Municipalities and Transport will display student artworks across school murals and public facilities emirate-wide.
If your deadline is immovable and the audience is watching, we should talk. We build systems for situations where failure is not an option.