“The World of Studio Ghibli”, a long-running immersive exhibition dedicated to the wildly popular Japanese animation studio, will next set up shop at Manarat Al Saadiyat, an arts and culture center in Abu Dhabi, the National News reported.
Manarat Al Saadiyat is home to the annual Abu Dhabi art fair, and also hosts various exhibitions, workshops, studio spaces, and cultural events. The exhibition will be on view May 30 through August 20, 2026, and you can already reserve tickets for 125 AED (or about $34).
“The World of Studio Ghibli” launched in 2013 and has previously been on view in Japan, South Korean, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Bankkok. The most recent iteration, at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum, closed in February.
Studio Ghibli was founded in Japan in 1985 by Hiyao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki. Over the past 40 years, the company has produced some of the most beloved animated films such as Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008), and The Boy and the Heron (2023). One of Studio Ghibli’s earliest films, My Neighbor Totoro (1988), about two sisters who move with their father to the Japanese countryside and befriend a motley crew of friendly woodland creatures only they can see, is perhaps its most beloved, by both children and adults.
The Abu Dhabi presentation of the show will feature large-scale theatrical sets from 16 Studio Ghibli films, allowing visitors to step into some of the studio’s most iconic scenes, including sisters Satsuki and Mei waiting in the pouring rain for a bus while Totoro lumbers next to them, among other interactive installations and many, many photo-ops.
