Curatorial Ethos
RAi functions as a platform dedicated to facilitating artistic exchange and disseminating contemporary arts and culture from the Global South. Its curatorial approach prioritizes trans-disciplinary collaboration, institutional critique, and the development of creative practice through sustained partnerships and experimental presentations.
Rizq Art Initiative (RAi) is an independent cultural institution based in Abu Dhabi that facilitates artistic exchange and develops creative practice across the Global South and Middle East. Operated by artists, researchers, and creative practitioners from trans-disciplinary fields, the venue presents contemporary exhibitions, curatorial research, and collaborative programmes. It actively supports emerging and established artists while fostering long-term partnerships within the regional and international arts ecosystem.
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Leaf Tower, Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi
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Artists & People
Full directory →Artists
Represented and guest artists exhibiting with the gallery.
Almaha Jaralla
Almaha Jaralla was born in 1996 and is based in Abu Dhabi. She works between painting, photography and installation, drawing from archival family photographs taken during the 1970s and 1980s in Abu Dhabi as primary material. The images — captured on Fuji cameras, tinted by their characteristic filter — become portals into a Gulf that is personal and collective simultaneously: family gatherings, desert excursions, shorelines before the bridges were built. She paints on unconventional canvases fashioned from Maawaz — traditional men's garments whose patterns originate in Aden, foregrounding her ancestral ties to Yemeni heritage. Faces recede; posture, adjacency and colour carry meaning. Previous bodies of work have honoured her grandmother Shadia and her aunt Seham. The work that followed — Crude Memory, presented under Abu Dhabi Art's Beyond Emerging Artists programme — expanded the archive into questions of settlement, belonging and the physical transformation of the Gulf. She has shown at Tabari Artspace Dubai, NYU Abu Dhabi Project Space, and in Seoul at the Proximities exhibition presented by the Seoul Museum of Art. She was included in the Rizzoli publication +971 in 2025.
Samo Shalaby
Samo Shalaby grew up between Cairo and Dubai in a family of artists — his mother a painter, his aunt an artist, his sister running her own design practice. He absorbed the methods of making before he understood them. By the time he enrolled at Central Saint Martins in London, he'd already spent years in his mother's studio and several more doing commercial work he found creatively hollow. London changed something. "I didn't necessarily feel like I belonged anywhere before that," he has said. "Then I went to London — that's where it all unleashed." At CSM he studied stage design, costume and jewellery alongside fine art, and the theatrical logic stayed. His paintings feel like scenes from productions that don't exist yet: figures in ambiguous costume, worlds that seem historical but can't quite be placed, narratives that are simultaneously beautiful and uncomfortable. He draws from antiquity, surrealism and the grotesque, filtered through Egyptian and Palestinian heritage that runs through the work as undertone rather than statement. In one painting from 2024, he hid a battle scene, babies wrapped in keffiyehs, a woman holding a blue and white mask — symbols embedded in a composition rich enough that most viewers don't find them immediately. That's deliberate. "I wanted the symbolism to be more of an undertone, for people to find it." He has shown at Abu Dhabi Art, Kiaf Seoul, Soho Revue London, Marignana Arte Venice, and Lee & Bae Gallery Busan. He lives between Dubai and London.
Latifa Saeed
Hashel Al Lamki
Zahra Shafie
Tala Hammoud Atrouni
Kara Walker
Sudharshan Shetty
Cyan Dayritt
Cristiana De Marchi
Sujay Shah
Michal Martychowiec
Jonathas de Andrade
Sibdas Sengupta
Wambui Kamiru
Yaw Owusu
Bibi Hajra
Ravi Agarwal
Ishita Chakraborty
Priyaranjan Purkait
Amjum Rizve
Abdullah Al Othman
Asma Ghanem
Alexia Webster
Christopher Marianetti
Angus Carlyle
Jananne Al Ani
Louise K Wilson
Martin John Callanan
Nour Sokhon
Open Group
Shirin Neshat
Thomas Gardner
Uzma Falak
Yara Mekawei
Christopher Joshua Benton
Kevork Mourad
Mona Ayyash
Arwa Alneami
Azza Al Qubaisi
Azza Al Qubaisi Azza Al QubaisiAzza Al Qubaisi is an artist whose creative spirit thrives in the interplay between metal and nature. As a jewelry artist, sculptor, and product designer, she holds the distinguished place of being often celebrated as the UAE’s first Emirati jewelry designer. Her works embody a prolific creativity, where precious metals like gold and silver meet humble materials such as wood, rubber tires, palm branches, and the fragrant Oudh incense. Each piece tells a story, blending the tactile with the symbolic to evoke both history and modernity. Azza’s artistic vision is deeply rooted in a commitment to sustainability and cultural preservation. She draws from the essential materials that once formed the backbone of Emirati family life before the discovery of oil. Palm branches and the traditional weaved Sadu fabric become her chosen mediums, reimagined through methods she has developed over the past decade. These materials, steeped in history, find new life in her work, where the desert’s shapes, patterns, and textures intertwine with revived ancient techniques, creating a harmonious dialogue between past and present. Reflecting on her practice, Azza shares, “The works reflect my journey as an artist to understand who I am as an Emirati. They highlight all the materials I have used throughout my artistic journey and revolve around the fabric of life that existed in the past.” This intimate connection between identity and materiality infuses her creations with a profound sense of place and memory, inviting viewers to experience the quiet strength of tradition renewed through innovation. Holding a Master’s degree in Cultural and Creative Industries alongside a Bachelor of Arts in Jewelry Design, Silversmithing, and Allied Crafts, Azza brings both scholarly insight and hands-on expertise to her practice. Her career is marked by international recognition, her work traveling across the globe and resonating with diverse audiences. Notable exhibitions include 'Three Generations' at Sotheby’s London in 2013, the UAE National Day exhibition at Expo 2015 Milan, and ‘Portrait of Nation’ in Berlin in 2017, each showcasing her ability to weave narratives that transcend borders while rooted firmly in Emirati heritage. Azza’s influence extends beyond the gallery walls; her work has been documented in respected publications such as ‘500 Earrings: New Directions in Contemporary Jewellery’ by Lark Crafts in 2007. Through these pages, her artistry reaches new generations of creators and appreciators, securing her place within the evolving story of contemporary design and cultural identity. Her work, at once delicate and bold, carries the whispers of the desert winds and the heartbeat of a nation embracing its past and future. In the journey of Azza Al Qubaisi, we find a harmonious fusion of craft and concept, tradition and innovation. Her creations are not merely objects but vessels of memory and meaning, embodying a timeless dialogue between the earth’s raw materials and human creativity. Through her hands, the ancient and the modern converse in silent eloquence, inviting us to contemplate the enduring power of cultural roots and the endless possibilities that arise when we honor and transform them.
Justin Ponmany
Songnyeo Lyoo
Lana Khayat
Mohammed Kazem
Harisha Chennangod
Abdulla Almheiri
Ahmad AlAttar
Carolin Semerjian
Maitha Al Omaira
Very crude
Mariam Al Katheeri
Moza Al Falasi
Rodha Almazrouei
Roudhah Al Mazrouei
Ruqaya Al Hashmi
Salama Al Falasi
Sarah Al Nuaimi
Shama Al Hamed
Shama Al Mazrouei
Sreerag Jyothish
Wadeema Alhammadi
Zayed Alhaddar
Bhagyanath Chandroth
Murali Cheeroth
Smitha GS
GR Iranna
George Martin
Boshudhara Mukherjee
Sumedh Rajendran
Gigi Scaria
Surekha
Binoy Varghese
Pooja Iranna
Ameen Khaleel
KL Leon
Sabin Mudappathi
Veer Munshi
Lekha Narayanan
Jagannath Panda
Pranati Panda
Shambhavi Singh
Sujith SN
Hasseena Suresh
Rakhi Peswani
Shrimanti Saha
Priti Vadakath
Vivek Vilasini
Reem Al Mubarak
Madhu Venugopalan
Kevork Mourad The Crossing
Kevork Mourad The Intersection
Mona Ayyash Hold - From the series One, Two, Three, Four
Arwa Alneami Serendipity
Arwa Alneami Faidah
Kevork Mourad At the Fountainhead
Kevork Mourad The Faith in Time
Kevork Mourad The Tower II
Azza Al Qubaisi Dune 1.3
Azza Al Qubaisi Metaphor 06
Azza Al Qubaisi Root 08
Justin Ponmany Untitled #5
Justin Ponmany Untitled #4
Justin Ponmany Untitled #3
Justin Ponmany Untitled #2
Justin Ponmany Untitled #1
Songnyeo Lyoo Picnic
Songnyeo Lyoo Home #02
Songnyeo Lyoo Home #01
Songnyeo Lyoo Elysium
Lana Khayat The Olive Tree
Lana Khayat Dance With Uncertainty
Mohammed Kazem Waves
Mohammed Kazem Scratches on Paper
Mohammed Kazem Receiving Light. Cincinnati
Mohammed Kazem Receiving Light
Mohammed Kazem Collecting Light #2
Mohammed Kazem Collecting Light #1
Harisha Chennangod Untitled #3
Harisha Chennangod Untitled #2
Harisha Chennangod Untitled #1
Vivek Vilasini City - Fifth Investigation
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #1
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #2
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #3
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #4
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #5
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #6
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #7
Salmah Almansoori I was a forgotten moment #8
Zena Assi Buzzing In My Ears #1
Zena Assi Dream Catcher #2
Zena Assi Home Is Where The Chandelier Hangs #1
Zena Assi Wallpaper 1
Zena Assi Weeping Willow in March
Pooja Iranna Transparent
Dalia Baassiri Good Night I
Dalia Baassiri Good Night II
Dalia Baassiri Good Night III
Dalia Baassiri Good Night IV
Dalia Baassiri Good Night IX
Dalia Baassiri Good Night V
Dalia Baassiri Good Night VI
Dalia Baassiri Good Night VII
Dalia Baassiri Good Night VIII
Dalia Baassiri Midnight Dive I
Dalia Baassiri Midnight Dive II
Dalia Baassiri Stamina III
Zoe Benbow Copse
Zoe Benbow River Rocks - Glen Tilt
Zoe Benbow Spring Holidays
Zoe Benbow Spring Woods at Loughrigg
Zoe Benbow Trees On The Horizon
Zoe Benbow Woodland Walk
Elizabeth Dorazio Untitled #1
Elizabeth Dorazio Untitled #2
Elizabeth Dorazio Untitled #3
Bhagyanath Chandroth Shows Are Going On
Bhagyanath Chandroth Trapped
Murali Cheeroth Urbanscapes 1
Smitha GS Untitled
GR Iranna Ethereal Tree
George Martin A Garden of Earthly Delights
George Martin An Acceptable Time
Sumedh Rajendran Slow Cracks 1
Sumedh Rajendran Wind is Shape of Land
Gigi Scaria Unbearable Lightness of Being
Surekha Evolving Patterns 1,2,3,4
Binoy Varghese Untitled
Murali Cheeroth Blended Voices (Home)
Murali Cheeroth Urbanscapes 2
Ameen Khaleel Balancing on Unreal Surface
Ameen Khaleel Tied Down Elements
KL Leon Slice of Jackfruit
KL Leon The Back Kitchen
KL Leon The Plantain Bunch
Sabin Mudappathi A Flowing Croaky Midnight
Veer Munshi Healing Wounds
Lekha Narayanan The Reign of Peace
Jagannath Panda Convergence
Jagannath Panda Custodian of Untold Stories
Pranati Panda Blooming from Within
Gigi Scaria Sprouting Indifference
Gigi Scaria The Power of Euphoria
Gigi Scaria Time, Space and Other Distractions
Shambhavi Singh Fallen Palm Leaf/Taard ka Patta
Shambhavi Singh Kali
Sujith SN Isle 1
Sujith SN Isle 2
Surekha A Walk With Hands
Surekha Eye of A Needle
Surekha Threading The Threads
Hasseena Suresh Faces I have seen, the faces I have been - I
Curators & programme
Curatorial team and exhibition programming.