By Under the Same Sky by Rizq Art Initiative
How do artists living in the UAE interpret nuances of a nation they call home? Twenty UAE-based artists responded to this prompt to create their personal perspectives of a homeland, in Under The Same Sky, a group exhibition at Rizq Art Gallery, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi.
Conceived as a tribute to the UAE, Under the Same Sky, brings together both Emirati artists and artists from diverse nationalities living in the UAE. Running until July 31, 2026, through the exhibition, the artists portray that even though they have different histories, languages and geographies, their practices are shaped by a shared act of sustained presence — by what is noticed, learned and absorbed through their time spent in the country.
For Emirati artist Maitha Al Omaira, the ever-changing nature of the ghaf tree, is a significant representation of her homeland. Her cyanotype work captures both light and time to reveal the resilient nature of the national tree of UAE. Palestinian-Lebanese-American artist Tala Atrouni, uses Palestinian Tatreez (traditional cross stitch embroidery) to explore the fragile relationship between identity and self-perception.
French artist Karine Roche, explores how geometric weaving reconstructs façades of buildings and depicts the flame tree flowers in Abu Dhabi in the exhibition.
“Under the Same Sky is one of the most meaningful exhibitions we have presented since founding the Rizq Art Initiative. It carries a particular resonance in this moment and is a quiet affirmation of what the UAE is, and what it has always been to those of us who call it home. The show is a reminder that the UAE’s enduring strength has always been its capacity to hold many histories, languages and memories under one sky, highlighting the depth of belonging that exists within our communities,” said Shafeena Yusuff Ali, Founder and Executive Director of Rizq Art Initiative.
Other exhibiting Emirati artists include Shamsa Al Mansoori, Shamma Al Mazrouie and Sara Al Sulaimani. While Al Mansoori’s work with photography and mixed media captures the complexity of contemporary Emirati life, coexisting ancestral roots with a future-focused spirit, Al Mazrouie explores the architectural language of an Emirati home through her artworks. And Al Sulaimani documents a city’s transformation based on the poetry of UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
The show also features British Lebanese fashion designer and textile artist Nour Hage, who explores textile traditions to create highly personal talismanic objects which unite her hometown and current home, and multi-disciplinary Indian artist Simrin Mehra-Agarwal, whose background as a researcher opens critically urgent dialogues around nature, specific to the geography and ecology of the UAE.
For the exhibition, the artists were invited to showcase new or existing works in response to the prompt of their choosing drawn from within the UAE – be it an everyday encounter, an object or material, a location, a gesture, or a moment that has remained quietly significant. Their practices engage closely with the environment they inhabit, responding to a society shaped by movement and change while remaining attentive to their own cultural lineages. Together, the works reflect the ongoing interplay between lived experiences and artistic practice.
“The contemporary art landscape of the UAE is shaped by movement and convergence. Its cities are defined by continual arrival and departure, and by rapid transformation in both physical and social terms. What emerges is not a single narrative of the country, but a layered, sometimes camouflaged cultural mapping shaped from within. The works being showcased in, Under the Same Sky, speak to one another across mediums and lineages, offering a portrait of the UAE as it is lived, observed and reimagined by those who call it home today,” said Meena Vari, Riza Art Initiative’s Chief Curator.