Weekly UAE museum and gallery guide: From reimagining the everyday to refocusing on Palestinian art history

Plus, Lebanese artist Chafa Ghaddar's solo exhibition which portrays frescoed landscapes

A closer look at the history of Palestinian art will refocus the narrative on artists from the region. Pictured: Artist Marika Gaitanopoulou Thorogood in her studio in Jerusalem, circa 1940s. Photo: The Thorogood familyShow less

What is the difference between resistance and suffering? How do we share collective narratives about perseverance? How can the land be like the body? And how can we re-experience the banal in a new way?

These are concepts explored in galleries and exhibitions taking place across the UAE this week. From solo displays to group showcases, here's the art to see right now.

Made Present: Biographies of Artworks Defying the Ongoing Nakba at Alserkal Arts Foundation Project Space

Untitled by Palestinian visual artist Mustafa Al-Hallaj painted in 2001. Photo: Shukri Farwaji

The history of Palestinian art is often portrayed as one of loss, fragmentation, and destruction. However, this exhibition presents an alternative story that defies attempts of erasure.

Through artworks, archival material and field notes, the exhibition outlines biographies of artworks that have persevered over time. The collection also delves into the extensive history of artists who have worked in the face of many challenges, sometimes risking their own lives to create.

This shifts the focus of Palestinian art history, placing the artists as the heroes of their narratives and telling stories, not of suffering, but of resistance.

The exhibition features the works of artists Tamam Al-Akhal, Sophie Halaby, Raed Issa, Dina Matter, Sliman Mansour and many more.

Until November 24; Sunday to Thursday, 10am – 6pm; Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai

Water Like Tears, Flour Like Soil at ICD Brookfield

Formed in collaboration with Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir for Art and Research, an ancestral family home turned artist-run space in Bethlehem, this group exhibition explores themes of creation and transformation through land, cultural resistance and storytelling.

The title of the show references a Palestinian mourning ritual of kneading, baking and eating bread after loss. This is reflected in the works and curation, where the artists who work from Gaza, Bethlehem, Ireland, Brazil and the UAE present ideas of global solidarity built through collective cultural resistance.

The exhibition features the works of renowned artists such as Adam Broomberg, Hazem Harb, Ahmed Al-Aqra, Emily Jacir, Aline Baiana, Shayma Hamad and many more.

Until December 4; Open 24 hours daily; DIFC, Dubai

Superficial Transactions at Aisha Alabbar Gallery

Emirati artist Eman Alhashemi's solo exhibition reflects on the everyday in a new way. Photo: Maraya Art Center

Emirati artist Eman Alhashemi presents a series of artworks where she plays with forms of artistic production through sculpture and ceramics. The exhibition highlights complex and intertwined relationships with ideas and objects around us, reflecting the notion of a repetitive consumerist state that sometimes veers into boredom.

Her delicate sculptures are the result of her observations and critiques of everyday life.

Until January 6; Monday to Saturday, 10am – 6pm; Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai

Your Sun That Kept Setting at Maraya Art Centre

Chafa Ghaddar's landscapes reimagines how we see the land. Photo: Maraya Art Center

Lebanese artist Chafa Ghaddar's solo exhibition portrays landscapes in various acts, each using the pre-Renaissance technique of fresco, which requires freshly laid lime plaster applied in segments and then painting directly on to the moist surface.

The technique, which involves working quickly with materials that are prone to crack, is representative of cultural and geographical fragmentation. She cements this messaging by portraying landscapes that seemingly never 'begin' or 'end'. Only the colourful sun anchors them. Yet each piece is still complete, reflecting her ideas around countries having autonomy over their own affairs in despite of such fragmentation.

Until January 10; Saturday to Thursday, 10am – 7pm; Friday 4pm – 7pm. Al Qasba, Sharjah