Observers of Change

The Etihad Museum sits on the site where the UAE's founding document was signed in 1971. The choice of venue for Observers of Change is not incidental. The exhibition spans fifty years of artistic practice in the UAE, bringing together approximately 60 works from the Barjeel Art Foundation collection — paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media works by pioneering and contemporary artists whose practices have registered the country's social, cultural and urban transformation since that founding moment. From the Tabari Artspace roster: Hazem Harb's archival collages examine Palestinian displacement and the layering of historical memory. Ziad Al Najjar and Miramar Al Nayyar represent younger voices navigating questions of identity and belonging in a rapidly shifting Gulf. Hashel Al Lamki — an Emirati painter whose work sits at the intersection of the human and natural worlds — bridges generations. Curated by Rémi Homs of the Barjeel Art Foundation, the exhibition offers what the institution describes as "a layered account of how artists have engaged with moments of transition and redefinition." It is one of the most significant institutional presentations of UAE art in Dubai in 2026.