Alserkal Avenue in Dubai will host 19 exhibitions across 16 galleries throughout September, showcasing a mix of emerging and established artists from the UAE, the wider region, and beyond. The program spans solo presentations and group shows, touching on themes such as identity, place, memory, and contemporary life.
A Snapshot of September Offerings
“The sky held it, the earth remembered” brings together Rohini Devasher, Sarker Protick, and Shahana Rajani in a group exhibition examining land, water, and the cosmos as repositories of memory and ecological change. Bashar Khalaf‘s “The Field of Dreams” presents two new series that investigate steel in public spaces as a symbol of protection, control, and power.
Ahmad Tallaa’s “The Living Archive” offers a detailed exploration of how the human face carries accumulated experience and identity. Sharmila Samant’s ongoing project “Locacola (2000–ongoing)” explores the tension between global consumer culture and local identity.
Bénédicte Gimonnet’s “What We Carry Becomes the Terrain” features paintings, drawings, and textiles that reflect on environment, cultural inheritance, and identity across time and place. Amir Khojasteh’s “May the Tree No Longer Burn When I Wake” reflects on departure, distance, destruction, and renewal through ash and the Persian garden.
Sculpture, Textiles, and Multidisciplinary Practices
Maggie Otieno’s “Sojourner: The Difference is the Same” marks her first solo exhibition, featuring sculptures crafted from reclaimed railway sleepers and found materials. Tirdad Hashemi’s “I Bloom Where You Hold Me” explores love, intimacy, care, and resilience as forces that sustain relationships and communities.
“Private World” is an intimate group exhibition by Lulua Alyahya, Rami Farook, Sohrab Hura, and Khaled Jarada, focusing on solitude, inward attention, and personal experience. Iqra Tanveer and Faheem Abbas co-curate “The importance of staying quiet: 6. Open Forms”, a group exhibition centered on conceptual and material practices shaped by stillness and abstraction.
Nada Elkalaawy’s “The Butterfly’s Burden” presents layered paintings exploring memory, loss, regeneration, and the passage of time. Azza Al Qubaisi’s “Between Land and Sea” examines Emirati identity, heritage, and nature through a multidisciplinary practice.
Manish Nai’s “In Search of Material within Material” investigates form, space, material, and repetition through a minimalist lens. Karima Al Shomely’s “Between a Fold and a Memory” explores memory, identity, place, and cultural heritage through multidisciplinary works.
Katia Kameli’s “The Canticle of the Birds” is a solo presentation by the Paris-based French-Algerian artist and filmmaker. Dalal Al-Obaidi’s “Frogs, Jazz & Blisters” features new works across textile, wood, and paper, exploring light, colour, material, abstraction, and geometry.
Bernar Venet rounds out the season with “Sculptures, Furniture and Works on Paper”, a survey bringing together his steel sculptures, furniture, and works on paper. With 19 exhibitions to explore, September offers ample reason to return to Alserkal Avenue.
