Maitha Abdalla's Solo Exhibition at Abu Dhabi's Cultural Foundation Explores Body as Storyteller

Maitha Abdalla presents her first solo exhibition at the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi, running until 30 August. The exhibition creates an emotionally charged environment with minimal lighting, where artworks emerge gradually from shadows. One notable painting, It’s a Birthday: The Feast and the forgotten (2024), depicts distorted humanoid figures in a barren landscape, engaging with themes of existential longing and fragile ritual. Another work, It’s A Birthday: The Toast (2024), features a hybrid figure contorted around a table, with black birds suggesting internal torment. Abdalla's video performance Flying closer to the Sun (2021) shows the artist in a forest performing ritualistic gestures with a golden cloth and feathers, evoking transformation. Sculptural pieces like The Dancer’s Skin (2022–23) stand on a white platform, accompanied by a large forest scene canvas with fantastical creatures. The exhibition spans painting, film, and performance, reflecting Abdalla's intimate self-reflection through physical and emotional presence. Visitors experience a dimly lit space that feels both physical and mythological, with artworks arranged to encourage personal encounter. The show's layout includes a darker section resembling a cave, a clinical corridor with a bench, and a dreamscape area. Abdalla's work explores themes of metamorphosis, reality, and the body as a site of storytelling.