ural Foundation, a cultural centre under the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), is shining a spotlight on local talent with ‘Maitha Abdalla: Between Metamorphosis and Reality’, an ongoing solo exhibition by Emirati multidisciplinary artist, Maitha Abdalla. On display until 30 August 2025, the exhibition invites visitors into a world where fantasy and reality merge, identity is ever shifting, and storytelling takes on a deeply personal form.
Through a captivating mix of painting and sculpture, Abdalla explores folklore, mythology, psychology, and social constructs that shift between abstraction and representation. The exhibition highlights the power of art to spark dialogue, inspire self-reflection, and strengthen cultural connections within the community.
Blurring the lines between disciplines, Maitha Abdalla’s practice spans film, photography, sculpture, painting, drawing, and performance. She draws inspiration from the performative nature of theatre, using its constructed nature to explore themes of folklore, and social conditioning. Her works often depict characters caught in confined, domestic spaces – symbols of vulnerability and self-exploration. Through expressive, textural techniques, she applies dense layers of oil and acrylic with her fingertips, and outlines figures with gestural smears of charcoal, making her process as physical as it is conceptual.
Abdalla’s work explores social structures, memories, and fantasies through a lens that is both objective and intensely personal. Infused with drama, melancholy, and introspection, her compositions invite viewers into a world of shifting emotions and fragmented realities. Through layered textures and expressive techniques, Abdalla embeds herself in her art, with each brushstroke and gesture reflecting her presence, making her creative process a ‘performance in itself.’
An artist talk featuring Maitha Abdalla, moderated by Munira Al Sayegh (Lead Curator and Founder of Dirwaza Curatorial Lab), will take place on May 28, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. Abdalla’s diverse practice, spanning performance, sculpture, painting, and video, explores fundamental themes of birth, death, guilt, and metamorphosis, blurring the lines between memory and myth. This conversation will reflect on her artistic journey through the lens of these powerful ideas, including insights from her recent residency at the Cultural Foundation. The nuanced discussion will also investigate tensions between visibility and vulnerability, the relationship between language and the physical form, and the role of ritual in the act of creation
About Cultural Foundation
Opened in 1981 under the directives of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Cultural Foundation was the United Arab Emirates’ first multi-purpose community centre, a public institution with a mandate to foster and nurture cultural consciousness for all citizens of the recently unified UAE. Placed next to the historic Qasr al Hosn, this building fundamentally represented a new outlook on the role of culture in the modern UAE, with the introduction of the first national library, a theatre, and a multi-purpose exhibition hall. Between 2009 and 2018, the Cultural Foundation underwent extensive conservation measures including repairs, rehabilitation, and some adaptive reuse. Its much-anticipated reopening took place in December 2018.
The Cultural Foundation presents a cutting-edge visual arts programme of exhibitions, workshops, and events. It also showcases a world-class, contemporary, and home-grown performing arts programme in its newly renovated 900-seat theatre. It has transformed its library to become the Abu Dhabi Children’s Library. The state-of-the-art facility presents innovative hands-on learning programmes for children and families.
About the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi:
The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism sectors and its creative industries, fuelling economic progress and helping to achieve Abu Dhabi’s wider global ambitions.
By working in partnership with the organisations that define the emirate’s position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of the emirate’s potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture and tourism.
DCT Abu Dhabi’s vision is defined by the emirate’s people, heritage and landscape. We work to enhance Abu Dhabi’s status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought.
