This week’s exhibitions explore how personal and collective identities are shaped through conflict and displacement.
From glass sculptures that reflect on migration and marginalisation to haunting canvases that preserve Gaza’s memory, the featured works confront systems that seek to erase or contain. They prompt questions of how borders define lives and how individuals assert themselves against systemic forces.
Here are three exhibitions to see this week.
Tempted by Other Suns at Tabari Artspace
In Tempted by Other Suns, Bechir Boussandel presents a series of glass-blown works that draws inspiration from Tunisia’s berbasha or individuals who survive by collecting waste.
The project was formed after the artist encountered a Senegalese man who collected plastic bottles to pay for his journey into Europe. After following him to a waste depot, Boussandel began seeing the practice as a powerful allegory of survival and ambition.
Boussandel, a French-born artist of Tunisian descent, then began creating plaster moulds from discarded plastic objects, transforming them into glass sculptures in collaboration with Tunisian artisans.
The glass pieces were also fitted with metal birds, solidifying the metaphor of migration in the artworks. The birds are rendered in still, flightless forms. As such, Boussandel’s works express the conflict between the desire for mobility and the restrictions enforced by social systems.
Until September 5; Monday to Friday, 11am to 6pm; Gate Village, Building 3, Dubai International Financial Centre
Gaza: Between Rubble and Memory at Zawyeh Gallery
This online exhibition presents a series of mixed-media works that Mohammed Joha created in Gaza in 2006. The paintings echo the destruction and trauma experienced by Palestinians, embodying shards of the city’s emotional and physical landscapes. The artist is a Gaza-born Palestinian artist living in France.
Using acrylic and spray paint, Joha transforms canvases into symbolic walls, scarred and layered like those once filled with graffiti, martyr portraits and slogans, many now destroyed by bombings. Faded Arabic text and ghostly portraits, meanwhile, evoke the history that risks erasure under Israeli onslaught.
The abstracted forms are drawn from real demolished homes. As such, Joha’s paintings serve as a visual archive. The works are searingly relevant today, as Gaza faces continued devastation.
Until August 15; online; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
It Starts Where It Ends at 421 Arts Campus
Colombian artist Ana Escobar Saavedra’s exhibition at 421 Arts Campus explores concepts of identity through linguistic, philosophical and material investigations.
A pivoting point is the distinction between the Spanish verbs “ser” and “estar”. While both mean “to be”, they reflect different states, permanent and temporary.
This conceptual contrast is reflected in her use of marble and granite, materials tied to permanence and historical preservation, which she reshapes to reflect the body’s changing nature. The exhibition incorporates elements such as identification documents to question how identity is constructed and recorded, and whether official records or lived experience shape us more.
It Starts Where It Ends comes as part of 421’s Artistic Development Programme and the centre’s commitment to nurturing early-career artists in the UAE.
Until September 7; Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 8pm; Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The five pillars of Islam
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
If you go
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Santiago, via Sao Paolo cost from Dh5,295 with Emirates.
The trip
A five-day trip (not including two days of flight travel) was split between Santiago and in Puerto Varas, with more time spent in the later where excursions were organised by TurisTour.
When to go
The summer months, from December to February are best though there is beauty in each season
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Watford 1 (Deulofeu 80' p)
Chelsea 2 (Abraham 5', Pulisic 55')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
The five pillars of Islam
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
