Alaa Edris Emarati, b. 1986
Alaa Edris (b. 1986, Dubai, UAE) uses photography, film and performance to enact experimental mappings and manipulations of her social and urban environment. Acting as anthropologist,cartographer and sci-fi voyager, she contends with dominant issues from the field of Arabartistic research, including the construction of gender, the relationship between tradition and progress, and language as a medium for identifying, shaping and articulating a culture.
Edris’ work has been presented in exhibitions across the region and internationally, including
Iyahong: The Art of Metamorphosis, the 5th Jeju Biennale, Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju City (2026);Washwasha, National Pavilion UAE, 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia,Arsenale, Venice (2026); Proximities, Seoul Museum of Art (SeMa), Seoul (2025); Dubai Collection exhibition, Art Dubai (2024); Manar Abu Dhabi, Mamsha Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (2023); Evaporating Suns: Contemporary Myths from the Arabian Gulf, KBH.G –
KunststiftungBasel H. Geiger, Basel (2023); Speculative Land, New Space PA, Tokyo (2022);
Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (2022); This is not a
show [io non sono qui], Venice Art Projects, Venice (2021); Fragments, Yesterday and Today,
Gateway, Abu Dhabi Art, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi (2019); Leaving the Echo Chamber,
Sharjah Biennial 14 (2019); From Barcelona to Abu Dhabi: Works from the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA in dialogue with the Emirates), ManaratAl Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
(2018); Is Old Gold?, Dubai Community Theatre and Art Centre, Dubai (2017); Al Haraka Baraka, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah (2016); Past Forward: Contemporary Art from the Emirates, touring, exhibition to Washington, DC, and six US states (2014–2016); In the Absence of Script, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah (2014); and Sameage, Oratorio di San Ludovico, Venice (2011). She completed the year-long Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artist Fellowship program, organized in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design (2015), and participated in a residency at Fondazione Cini in Venice through an award from the Emirates Foundation (2011). In 2019, she presented her first solo exhibition titled Unreal. Unseen. Untouched. at 1X1 Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. Alaa Edris currently lives and works between Sharjah and Abu Dhabi
Education
2005-2009 Bachelors of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts & Design, University Of Sharjah
Fellowships
2014-2015 Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2019, Unreal. Unseen. Untouched., 1X1 Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE
Group Exhibitions
2026 Iyahong: The Art of Metamorphosis, 5th Jeju Biennale, Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju City, South Korea
2026 Washwasha, National Pavilion UAE, 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia,
Italy
2025 Making Space: Gulf Photographers on the Scene, Arab Gulf States Institute, Washington, D.C., USA
2025–2026 Proximities, Seoul Museum of Art (SeMa), Seoul, South Korea
2024 Dubai Collection exhibition, Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE
2023–2024 Manar Abu Dhabi: Grounding Light, Mamsha Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2023 Evaporating Suns: Contemporary Art from the Arabian Gulf, KBH.G, Basel, Switzerland
2022 Speculative Land, New Space PA, Tokyo, Japan
2022 Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2021 This is not a show [io non sono qui], Venice Art Projects, Venice, Italy
2020 Playing Spaces, Engage101, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE
2019 Fragments, Yesterday and Today, Gateway, Abu Dhabi Art, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
2019 Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
2018 Letters to a Young Muslim, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2018 Tribe: Contemporary Photography from the Arab World, American University Museum at the
Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC, USA
2018 From Barcelona to Abu Dhabi: Works from the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA in
dialogue with the Emirates), Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2017 Beyond: Emerging Artists, Abu Dhabi Art, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2017 East-East Vol. 3, CHI-KA Space, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE
2017 Is Old Gold?, DUCTAC, Dubai, UAE
2016 Al Haraka Baraka: In Movement There is Blessing, Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, UAE
2014 PastForward: Contemporary Art from the Emirates, UAE Embassy, Washington DC, USA
2014 The Other and Me, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
2014 In The Absence of Script, Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, UAE
2013 Plugins Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 Moving Image Art Fair, London, UAE
2013 Maraya Art Night, Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, UAE
2012 Public Screen, Part of The Changing Room Project, London, UK
2011 SAMEAGE, Semi-Solo Exhibition, Oratorio di S. Ludovico, Venice, Italy
2011 ArtVerona, Associazione E, Verona, Italy
2010 Regarding Borders, Group Exhibition, Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, UAE
2010 Experiment, Group Exhibition, Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, UAE
Residencies
2011, Mirroring, a UAE artists residency program supported by Emirates Foundation. Curated by
Associazione E and Nuova Icona, in collaboration with Fondazione Cini Onlus and Università Ca’
Foscari – Dipartimento di studi sull'Asia e sull'Africa Mediterranea.