Shafeena Yusuff Ali talks about her new art gallery RAi

November 2023 saw the opening of Rizq Art Initiative (RAi), a bold new artistic space on Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi. Founded by entrepreneur and art historian, Shafeena Yusuff Ali, the daughter of UAE-based eminent Indian business leader, MA Yusuff Ali, the independent cultural institution, is poised to focus on the rich and vast art of the Global South.

The art gallery began its journey with its inaugural exhibition — In the Dusky Path of A Dream: Notes from Abstracting the Real, curated jointly by Shafeena and their in-house creative director Meena Vari. Well-known as a cultural and business icon in Abu Dhabi, Shafeena holds a Masters in Art History and Visual Culture from Lindenwood University in the US, an MBA from the University of Oxford’s Said Business School and a Masters in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge. RAi, she says, has been the culmination of her lifelong vision to focus on art.  In this interview with MiddleEastMasala she further details, how RAi s slated to be an inclusive space for both artists and art enthusiasts in the emirates.

Tell us about Rizq Art Initiative and the story behind its origin.

Rizq Art Initiative began as a result of my passion for the arts and my aspiration to fill the gap that I saw in Abu Dhabi’s art and cultural landscape. At Rizq, we provide the support that emerging artists in Abu Dhabi and UAE deserve through two of our signature initiatives. The Rizq Residency programme will provide opportunities for artists, curators and writers to develop their practice, network, and expand their creative practices through research and collaborations with communities and institutions. Rizq Residency Awards for selected artists will be based on applications announced and reviewed intermittently.

Before launching RAi, I wanted to make sure that I would be able to do this in a sustainable manner, which is what made me pursue a Masters in Art History and Visual Culture. In 2023, Rizq as a dream started to become more tangible when I met the right people to start this journey with. Meeting our curator and creative director Meena Vari was one of the key moments in making Rizq a reality as we shared the same vision and set about bringing our common dream to life.

Why did you feel UAE needed another art institution? How do you plan to make Rizq a unique space?

I don’t think there can ever be ‘too much art’ anywhere. UAE is brimming with cultural potential with the exciting combination of ideas both from the local and the migrant populations adding a layer of magic in the air. I believe that there are so many stories and forms yet to be discovered from the region. We are extremely proud that we will be able to showcase a slice of all this and more in our gallery. At Rizq we aim to bring the best from unexplored contexts to the audience in Abu Dhabi.

What can art enthusiasts and artists expect from RAi?

They can expect unique exhibitions, exciting conversations along with the generation of cultural capital in the region. We hope to bring immersive and experimental artwork that would be contextually relevant to Abu Dhabi, starting with our Sound Art Exhibition ‘Listening for Traces’ that is set to open in February 2024.

Then, in September 2024 Rizq, will launch the second phase of the building, adding studios to the gallery space. Here we hope to provide studio spaces where artists can experiment, explore, and develop their ideas and techniques.

What has been your contribution to building RAi? How do you balance your roles as a business owner and an art patron? Which aspects interlay?

RAi was a dream that became a reality through months of hard work. I hope I was able to provide a safe space and ample support to the team while working with them to allow that dream to come into fruition. As an art patron and enthusiast, I value the artists’ autonomy as creators and understand the importance of creating safe, supportive environments. At the same time, as a business owner, I understand the power of art as an investment and its ability to generate capital, that is very much necessary to sustain artists and their ambitious projects. That is why, I particularly champion the idea of RAi following a circular creative economy model.

Tell us about the inaugural exhibition — In the Dusky Path of a Dream and its curatorial process.

‘In the Dusky Path of a Dream’ is our ambitious inaugural exhibition, featuring 27 contemporary artists and over 60 pieces of artwork, which include paintings, sculptures, installations, and an exciting array of material explorations. In our effort to represent the Global South, we thought it was important to start from home. So, this exhibition features Indian artists, from different corners of the nation, bringing together multiple contexts, ideas and artistic practices.

The curation is centred around abstracting the real, exploring how the past and the future are connected by the slipperiness of memory and identity. We constantly encountered situations that challenged our sense of reality, stability and familiarity. However, the confusion also opened up paths for repair and growth. The artists in this show explore these shifting realities in understanding and imagining the Symbionese future (a period of re-integration between humans and the rest of nature).

On display till February 23, 2024, the current exhibition at RAi encompasses several mediums including textile, teak wood, ceramic, bronze sculptures as well as paint and ink. Artists participating in the exhibition include Surekha, who explores themes of gender, ecology and socio-political aesthetics, Shambhavi, who is interested in human relationships with nature; and Gigi Scaria, whose work delves into migration and globalisation in India’s rapidly changing landscape among others.