Weekly UAE museum and gallery guide: Last chance to see 128-piece installation by pioneering Emirati artist

Plus, the woodwork of Morteza Khazaie

Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim with his installation Between Sunrise and Sunset. Ruel Pableo for The National

Trees bent by time, still standing as resilient metaphors of transformation. Photography as a measure of healing. Papier-mache tracing the arc from night to day. This week’s exhibitions explore how people and places weather change. The transformations are sometimes painful and forced, but they reveal a pliability that pushes us forward.

Here are three exhibitions to see in the UAE this weekend.

Upside Down by Morteza Khazaie at Leila Heller Gallery

Morteza Khazaie uses wood to evoke a powerful metaphor for growth. Photo: Leila Heller Gallery

In Upside Down, Morteza Khazaie uses wood to make tall, curved forms inspired by trees bending to wind and storms. The sculptures show how trees endure without breaking by adapting to the elements. The works evoke a powerful metaphor for individual and societal change, transforming under pressure but nonetheless enduring.

The use of wood in this context is also interesting. The material carries a sense of growth and history, while underscoring the resilience found in nature. It embodies the juxtaposition between pliability and strength. As curator Farshad Mahoutforoush says in his statement about the exhibition: “Through these works, I wanted to explore how softness can be strength, and how being ‘upside down’ might simply mean seeing things differently.”

Monday to Friday, 10am-7pm; Saturday, 11am- 7pm; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

Time Heals, Just Not Quick Enough… at Efie Gallery

The artists in this group exhibition all have a connection with the African continent. Photo: Efie Gallery

Time Heals, Just Not Quick Enough… is a group exhibition curated by Ose Ekore. It features work by five contemporary artists: Samuel Fosso, Aida Muluneh, Kelani Abass, Abeer Sultan and Sumayah Fallatah.

The artists come from different generations and use film and photography to reflect upon themes of growth and healing, while also showing how the mediums are barometers of change.

Fallatah, for instance, reflects on experiences of the African diaspora in the Arab world by examining personal and family narratives. Sultan uses imagery of marine life to re-examine her family’s migration from West Africa to Saudi Arabia in the 1930s. Abass, inspired by his father's letterpress printing company, layers images, texts and found objects to explore the passage of time.

Fosso’s self-portraits challenge identity and representation by embodying stylised personas. These are inspired by African-American fashion and West African pop culture, and draw on the magazine images that were brought to the Central African Republic by Peace Corps volunteers.

Finally, Muluneh’s surreal photographs show face paint, masks and Ethiopian motifs to subvert stereotypical representations of African women.

Monday to Saturday, 11am-7pm; Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

Between Sunrise and Sunset by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim at Maraya Art Centre

The installation was originally created for the 2022 Venice Biennale. Ruel Pableo for The National

A seminal work by important Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Between Sunrise and Sunset was commissioned by the National Pavilion UAE and featured at the 2022 Venice Biennale.

The work is now on display at Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah. The exhibition, which is in its final month, has been organised with the support of Lawrie Shabibi and the National Pavilion UAE. The exhibition features three paintings by Ibrahim, but the titular installation is the centrepiece, taking the entirety of the second-floor gallery space.

The installation features 128 sculptural forms, each unique in shape, size and colour. The sculptures are arranged in a gradient, ranging from more vivid hues to the dulled and monochrome palettes that allude to nighttime. For Ibrahim, the work is meant to reflect the diversity of the UAE, both environmentally and culturally, while also evoking the metaphorical breadth of night and day.

Saturday to Thursday, 10am-7pm; Friday, 4pm-7pm; until August 1; Al Qasba, Sharjah