ABU DHABI.- The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery is offering an online experience of its last Project Space exhibition, Intimaa: Belonging. In the new video, The Art Gallery’s inaugural David Webb Museum Fellow, Tala Nassar, gives a tour of the exhibition. The video showcases the commissioned artworks on display, and features excerpts of poems being recited by the exhibition’s four Emirati poets.

This marks the sixth in a series of annual exhibitions organized by UAE Unlimited throughout the UAE, this time in collaboration with The NYUAD Art Gallery, and supported by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development. This exhibition unveils a number of works and four new commissions by UAE-based emerging artists who question their place in an era of globalization and how, through the rise of technological advancements, society has formed a unified existence that can be referred to as a ‘universal identity’.

Curated by Emirati arts researcher Nasser Abdullah, participating artists include Saeed AlMadani, multimedia artist Sarah AlMehairi, cultural cartographer Sofiane Si Merabet, and multimedia artist Majd Alloush. Every edition includes an established artist as a mentor and guest artist, this year’s guest is Dana Awartani. In addition to Awartani’s mentorship, these artists have received guidance from artists Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian throughout the process.

In a unique development, Intimaa: Belonging features newly commissioned bilingual poems by rising Emirati poets Ahmed Al Mannai, Ali Al Mazmy, Hassan Al Najjar, and Shamma Al Bastaki, all of whom have been mentored by the award-winning poet, writer, and presenter Khalid Albudoor.

The Project Space is operated by the staff of The NYUAD Art Gallery and housed within the campus’ Arts Center. It is the Art Gallery’s auxiliary venue dedicated to NYUAD’s community projects such as the annual Capstone Festival, semester-end exhibitions of student works, and faculty-curated exhibitions, providing a platform for experimentation and exploration.

UAE Unlimited, a satellite platform supported by His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, supports emerging Emirati and UAE-based artists by producing and promoting their work through strategic collaborations with art and culture organizations across the country. The initiative thrives on creating opportunities for young and emerging UAE-based talent, thereby contributing to the overall cultural production in the UAE.