artists
ASMA YOUSEF AL AHMED
Asma Yousef Al Ahmed is a visual artist, working across land art, sculpture, textiles, and digital media. Deeply inspired by the natural and built environments of the United Arab Emirates, her practice navigates themes of geological memory, material history, and the evolving dialogue between landscape and urbanization. Al Ahmed graduated from the College of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Sharjah in 2013 and participated in the SEAF Program in 2016, combining formal academic training with an intuitive engagement with materials and space. Her work has been exhibited at prominent venues including Warehouse 421, Sikka Art Fair, and the 30th Annual Exhibition of the Emirates Fine Arts Society.
Al Ahmed’s artistic inquiry is centered on the intersection of memory and material, investigating how landscapes, histories, and personal experience overlap, persist, and transform over time. Through site-responsive installations and immersive works, she creates tactile narratives that weave together fragments of past and present, rethinking continuity, resilience, and transformation. Her practice records traces of the past, reflecting the fragility of memory and the ways in which it is preserved. Each choice of material, from stitched textiles to reclaimed wood and wire, functions simultaneously as a structural and narrative device, balancing permanence and impermanence, concealment and revelation.
Al Ahmed’s artistic inquiry is centered on the intersection of memory and material, investigating how landscapes, histories, and personal experience overlap, persist, and transform over time. Through site-responsive installations and immersive works, she creates tactile narratives that weave together fragments of past and present, rethinking continuity, resilience, and transformation. Her practice records traces of the past, reflecting the fragility of memory and the ways in which it is preserved. Each choice of material, from stitched textiles to reclaimed wood and wire, functions simultaneously as a structural and narrative device, balancing permanence and impermanence, concealment and revelation.
Engaging with both ecological and urban contexts, Al Ahmed transforms construction debris into fragmented mountain-like forms that symbolize continuity and transformation. Her projects evoke the enduring presence of natural landscapes beneath urban ambition, examining how material and history inform contemporary experience. Collaborations with sustainable landscaping studios and the integration of subtle lighting highlight her attention to site, ecology, and the dialogue between natural and built environments.
As a prominent member of the contemporary art scene in the UAE, AlAhmed continues to advance discourse on memory, material, and place through her sculptural practice. Her work invites reflection on the temporal, layered, and evolving nature of landscapes, both physical and psychological, establishing a visual language in which memory becomes form, constructing a bridge between personal experience and collective consciousness.
EDUCATION
2013 Bachelor of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
EXHIBITIONS
2025 (Forthcoming) Abu Dhabi Art Fair. Rarares Gallery. Abu Dhabi, UAE
2025 Editions Art & Design fair. Dubai Design Week, Rarares Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2025 VOLTA Art Fair, MENA Pavilion, RARARES Gallery. Basel, Switzerland
2025 Elysian: Awakening of Powerful Spring, Group show. RARARES Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2025 Silk Road in 5 Days, Group Exhibition. RARARES Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2025 Folded Memory. Sikka Art Fair, Al Fahidi Historical District, Dubai, UAE
2020 Plastic, Group Exhibition, Tashkeel, Dubai, UAE
2017 Bayn: The In-Between, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2013 Re-imaging Your Community. Crossway Foundation, London, UK
2012 30th Annual Exhibition, Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah Arts Museum, Sharjah, UAE
PROGRAMMES & FELLOWSHIP
2016 Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (SEAF), in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2015 Campus Art Dubai Core Program, Alumni and Panel Speaker, Dubai Culture & Tashkeel, Dubai, UAE
2013 Edge of Arabia: Crossway Foundation Art Expedition, London, UK
GRANTS & RESEARCH PROJECTS
2025-2026 Roots in Stone: A Botanical Reflection from the UAE Hajar, Etihad Museum Research Grant, in collaboration with Alserkal Advisory, Dubai, UAE
2024 Children’s Illustration Program, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), Dubai, UAE
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
2015 Inspiring Artist of the Year, Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
PRESS & MEDIA FEATURES
2025 Zahrat Al Khaleej Magazine, Arabic feature on artistic approach, environmental focus, and recent exhibitions (Folded Memory, Chronoscapes)
2025 Gulf Time Newspaper / Dubai PR Network, “Dubai Culture Announces Etihad Museum Research Grant Recipients,” announcing Roots in Stone collaboration with Alserkal Advisory
2025 Emirates 24/7, “Sikka Art & Design Festival 2025: 19 Houses, 250 Artists, Infinite Creativity,” featuring Folded Memory installation
2025 RARARES Gallery / Artmag, “Sensory Tapestry: VOLTA Basel 2025,” highlighting Chronoscapes and exploration of UAE landscapes through textiles and sculpture
2017 Warehouse421 / UAE Unlimited, “Bayn: The In-Between,” presenting Geological Displacement and early explorations of land and material transformation
As a prominent member of the contemporary art scene in the UAE, AlAhmed continues to advance discourse on memory, material, and place through her sculptural practice. Her work invites reflection on the temporal, layered, and evolving nature of landscapes, both physical and psychological, establishing a visual language in which memory becomes form, constructing a bridge between personal experience and collective consciousness.
EDUCATION
2013 Bachelor of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
EXHIBITIONS
2025 (Forthcoming) Abu Dhabi Art Fair. Rarares Gallery. Abu Dhabi, UAE
2025 Editions Art & Design fair. Dubai Design Week, Rarares Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2025 VOLTA Art Fair, MENA Pavilion, RARARES Gallery. Basel, Switzerland
2025 Elysian: Awakening of Powerful Spring, Group show. RARARES Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2025 Silk Road in 5 Days, Group Exhibition. RARARES Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2025 Folded Memory. Sikka Art Fair, Al Fahidi Historical District, Dubai, UAE
2020 Plastic, Group Exhibition, Tashkeel, Dubai, UAE
2017 Bayn: The In-Between, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2013 Re-imaging Your Community. Crossway Foundation, London, UK
2012 30th Annual Exhibition, Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah Arts Museum, Sharjah, UAE
PROGRAMMES & FELLOWSHIP
2016 Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (SEAF), in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2015 Campus Art Dubai Core Program, Alumni and Panel Speaker, Dubai Culture & Tashkeel, Dubai, UAE
2013 Edge of Arabia: Crossway Foundation Art Expedition, London, UK
GRANTS & RESEARCH PROJECTS
2025-2026 Roots in Stone: A Botanical Reflection from the UAE Hajar, Etihad Museum Research Grant, in collaboration with Alserkal Advisory, Dubai, UAE
2024 Children’s Illustration Program, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), Dubai, UAE
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
2015 Inspiring Artist of the Year, Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
PRESS & MEDIA FEATURES
2025 Zahrat Al Khaleej Magazine, Arabic feature on artistic approach, environmental focus, and recent exhibitions (Folded Memory, Chronoscapes)
2025 Gulf Time Newspaper / Dubai PR Network, “Dubai Culture Announces Etihad Museum Research Grant Recipients,” announcing Roots in Stone collaboration with Alserkal Advisory
2025 Emirates 24/7, “Sikka Art & Design Festival 2025: 19 Houses, 250 Artists, Infinite Creativity,” featuring Folded Memory installation
2025 RARARES Gallery / Artmag, “Sensory Tapestry: VOLTA Basel 2025,” highlighting Chronoscapes and exploration of UAE landscapes through textiles and sculpture
2017 Warehouse421 / UAE Unlimited, “Bayn: The In-Between,” presenting Geological Displacement and early explorations of land and material transformation
Artist's works