Conflict, control and identity are the big topics being tackled in this week’s roundup of exhibitions.
A summer exhibition at Ayyam Gallery looks at Syria’s recent history through the eyes of 12 leading artists. An installation at the Green Art Gallery investigates how Tehran’s buildings reflect power and privacy. And a solo exhibition at the Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi explores personal and cultural identity through myth and memory.
Here are three exhibitions to see this week.
Wavering Hope at Ayyam Gallery
Ayyam Gallery is celebrating its 20th anniversary at a time when Syria is also undergoing major changes.
Founded in Damascus in 2006, the gallery has experienced the different phases of Syria’s recent history. Even as its headquarters shifted to Dubai as a consequence of the war, the gallery has still continued to engage with the developments of its home country – most notably through the work of the Syrian artists it continues to represent and support.
Wavering Hope, its summer exhibition, highlights that journey. It features works by 12 acclaimed Syrian artists, including Kais Salman, Khaled Takreti, Tammam Azzam, Abdalla Al Omari, Othman Moussa, Safwan Dahoul, Thaier Helal, Elias Izoli, Abdul-Karim Majdal Al-Beik, Mohannad Orabi, Nihad Al-Turk and Yasmine Al Awa.
Their works bear witness to displacement, destruction and personal grief, while also serving as acts of resilience and memory. As the gallery notes, they “map the emotional, political, and cultural aftermath of conflict, and the fragile hope that emerges in its wake”.
Monday to Friday, 10am to 7pm; Saturday, noon to 6pm; until September 5; Dubai
Instruments of Viewing and Obscurity at Green Art Gallery
Iranian artist Nazgol Ansarinia’s installation at Green Art Gallery explores mass housing architecture in Tehran, especially the use of concrete and windows. She examines how these buildings relate to issues such as social control and privacy.
The installation is designed like a maze or scaled-down city, with watchtower-like forms and translucent surfaces shaped from window frames. Large video projections show facades of buildings transitioning from daylight to night. One scene captures a woman standing at her window, reversing the viewer’s gaze and challenging public-private boundaries.
Her work critiques modernist architecture’s legacy in the Global South, especially its environmental and social impacts. The installation invites reflection on how cities are built and how those structures affect people’s lives and sense of space.
Monday to Saturday, 11am to 7pm; until October; Dubai
Maitha Abdalla: Between Metamorphosis and Reality at Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi
Maitha Abdalla’s exhibition at the Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi is entering its final month.
The Emirati artist, whose practice spans several mediums, often uses folktales and myths to explore themes such as psychology, social conditioning and gender.
Her solo exhibition at Abu Dhabi’s cultural foundation reflects upon these topics through a mix of painting and sculptures that toe the line between the figurative and the abstract, the real and the uncanny.
Saturday to Thursday, 9am to 8pm; Friday, 2pm to 8pm; until August 30; Abu Dhabi
