
As Seen by Ron John
/ I'm an American artist based in Miza, Abu Dhabi working in socially engaged art and installation. I collaborate with academics, architects, scientists, and everyday people to imagine new ways of living and create new sites of knowledge production. Inspired by my 11 years living in the United Arab Emirates, I like to research how the homeland endures inside immigrant populations.
Current long-term artistic research projects include spearheading an archive of Black dance with scientists from MIT’s Immersion Lab with funding from Meta and Brooklyn Museum; designing a public park for the government of Abu Dhabi; and heading a team of architects and urbanists to re-imagine overcrowded low-income housing in the United Arab Emirates.
My exhibitions have been presented at museums, biennials and art fairs around the world including the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial (Sharjah, UAE), and Abu Dhabi Art: Beyond Emerging (59th Venice Biennale). Further projects have been exhibited at Jameel Arts Centre (Dubai, UAE); 421 Art Campus (Abu Dhabi, UAE); Dubai Design Week; and BLOCKHOUSE (Tokyo, Japan), among others. My art and research have been televised on the BBC and CNN, and in print with GQ, Harper's Bazaar, and Architectural Digest.
While in Cambridge, I earned a master’s degree in Art, Culture, and Technology from MIT and studied at Harvard, receiving the Obermayer Prize and the Harold & Arlene Shnitzer Prize. I've participated in programs and fellowships with the University of Georgia as a HOPE Scholar, the University of Oxford as a Gilman Scholar, and the Rhode Island School of Design as a Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation fellow. I'm the former global creative director for Huawei.

Feature story televised on CNN International
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Master of Science in Art, Culture, & Technology
School of Architecture and Planning
The University of Georgia
Bachelor of Arts in English
Franklin College of Arts & Sciences
University of Oxford
Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholar
Keble College | Study Abroad
ADDITIONAL ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
Harvard University
Graduate-level MIT-Harvard cross registration
Film, theatre, and religion departments
Rhode Island School of Design
Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation Fellow
Post-baccalaureate program
SOLO PRESENTATIONS & BIENNIALS
2025. Tokyo Art and Space Hongo | Tokyo, Japan
2022. 59th Venice Biennale, Collateral Exhibition at Palazzo Franchetti Cavalli, Venezia, Italy
2021. Abu Dhabi Art: Beyond Emerging | Curated by Till Felrath and Sam Bardaouil
2021. Worked (So and so and on and on and so on and so on) | Art Space, Al Ain, UAE
BIENNIALS
2026. Contemporary Biennial Sardegna [Forthcoming]
2024. A Gulf Quinquennial, NYU Abu Dhabi Gallery
2024. Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial | Curated by Reem Fadda
2018. Fikra Graphic Design Biennial, Sharjah, UAE | Curated by Prem Krishnamurthy & Common-Interest
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITONS
2025. The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2025. Intersections, Baró Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2024. All is Flux, Nothing Stays Still, Rizq Art Initiative, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2023. Zero.zero, MIT.nano, Cambridge, MA
2023. Counteractions, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA
2023. Documentary Fictions, Harvard Carpenter Center, Cambridge, MA
2023. Counteractions, Distillery Gallery, Boston, MA
2023. Noshka Presents, Sikka Art Fair 2023, Dubai, UAE | Curated by Zayed University
2022. Abu Dhabi Art 2022
2022. Frome Photo Festival, Culture Pool, Maker’s Yard, Frome, UK
2022. Harold & Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts Exhibition, MIT Wiesner Art Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2022. I Shout My Laughter to the Stars, Aicon Contemporary, NY, NY
2021. So Different, So Appealing, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE (collab. w/ Rakan Ghresi & Ashay Bhave) 2021. Garden of E-arthly delights, Sumac Space, Dubai, UAE | Curated by Ruba Al-Seel
2021. East East Vol. 4: The Curio Shop Part III, ILY Hub, Tokyo, Japan | Curated by Sophie Arni
2021. East East Vol. 4: The Curio Shop Part II, Block House, Tokyo, Japan | Curated by Sophie Arni
2021. East East Vol. 4: The Curio Shop Part I, H.B. Nezu, Tokyo, Japan | Curated by Sophie Arni
2021. Al Seef Festival, Al Seef, Dubai, UAE
2020. UAE Designer’s Exhibition, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE | Curated by Ghassan Salamat
2020. Practice & Critique, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2019. Localities, Satellite Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2019. 001, Blue Cave Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2019. SIKKA Art Fair, Dubai, UAE
2018. Blue Cave Urban Art Festival, Dubai Design District, Dubai, UAE
2017. SIKKA Art Fair, Dubai, UAE
COMMISSIONS
2023. “When I Get Home.” Dubai Public Art | Dubai, UAE | Curated by Samayya Vally [Finalist]
2022. “City Behind My Window.” Adidas Middle East Flagship, Dubai, UAE
2020. “How to Be at Rest.” Dubai Design Week, Dubai, UAE
2019. “Who Gets Paid for Digital Labor?” Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE
RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
2025. Tokyo Arts & Space Residency (TOKAS), Tokyo, Japan
2024. 421 Art Campus Residency, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2023. Massachusetts Institute of Technology ACT Research Affiliate, Cambridge, MA
2023. Zayed University Noshka Printmaking Residency, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2022. Satellite Residency, Satellite, Dubai, UAE
2021. Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation Art Residency, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2019. Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation & Rhode Island School of Design Artist Fellowship
GRANTS & AWARDS
2023. Artadia Award - Boston (Finalist)
2023. MIT Obermayer Prize for Academic Writing
2023. MIT Sandbox Grant
2023. MIT ACT Gallery Grant
2022. Council of the Arts at MIT Grant
2022. Instagram / Brooklyn Museum Emerging Black Visionary
2022. Harold & Arlene Schnitzer Prize in the Visual Arts Prize
2022. MIT ACT Pilot Grant
2021. MIT ACT Pilot Grant
2021. Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship Scholarship
2021. MIT Department of Architecture Graduate Fellowship
2020. Art Jameel Research and Practice Platform Grant
2010. Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
2010. UGA Incentive Scholarship
2010. UGA Foundation Scholarship
2010. International Education Week Scholarship
2010. Katherine John Murphy Scholarship
2010. The Georgia HOPE Scholarship
TEACHING & LECTURES
2022. Teaching Fellow at MIT
2022. Guest Lecture, MIT List Center
2022. Guest Critic, Massachusetts College of Art & Design
2021. Visiting Artist, Zayed University, Noshka Printmaking Lab
2021. Guest Critic, MIT
2020. Workshop, Al Qattara Arts Centre
2020. Workshop, Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi
2020. Panelist, Dubai Design Week Talks
2018. Workshop, 421 Arts Campus
2018. Panelist, 421 Arts Campus
2018. Visiting Guest Lecture, American University of Dubai
2018. Panelist, World Art Dubai