Rizq Art Initiative Abu Dhabi hosts The Imaginary Museum exhibition

The Imaginary Museum, the 11th Curatorial Project of Abu Dhabi based Rizq Art Initiative (RAi, Sept 19 – Nov. 30), curated by Meena Vari at the Rizq Art Gallery spaces in Leaf Tower, Al Reem Island, takes inspiration from André Malraux’s concept of a “museum without walls”; it is a space where artworks live beyond their material form, carried forward through memory, imagination and interpretation.

The exhibition reconsiders art as a vessel for both personal and collective remembrance, inviting viewers to see artworks not as fixed objects, but as fragments of ongoing narratives. Drawing also on Homi K. Bhabha’s notion of hybridity and Umberto Eco’s idea of the “open work”, the show underlines fluidity, transformation and the active role of the viewer, in shaping the meaning of art.

Through painting, sculpture, digital practices and material experimentation, participating artists explore how memory, identity and cultural consciousness, are continuously redefined across time and space. Participating artists include Abdulrahim Ibrahim Al Kendi (Oman); Afra Al Dhaheri (UAE); Akhil Mohan (India); Alla Abdunabi (Libya/UAE); Angel Hui Hoi Kiu (Hong Kong); Anupama Alias Anil (India); Bharrati Verma (India); Camelia Mohebi (UAE); Christopher Joshua Benton (USA/UAE); Dhbaya Al Qubaisi (UAE); Dina Nazmi Khorchid (Palestine/USA); Hassan Sharif (UAE); Hasseena Suresh (India); Indu Antony (India); Jimmy Jinuchi Sugiura (Japan); Katarzyna Dzikowska (Poland/UAE); Maitha Al Omaira (UAE); Maktoum Al Maktoum (UAE); Mibin Bhaskar (India); Mohsen Hazrati (Iran/Berlin); Reem Al Hashmi (UAE); Roudhah Al Mazrouei (UAE); Samo Shalaby (Egypt/UAE); Sara Al Sulaimani (UAE); Sabin Mudappathi (India); Solimán López (Spain) and Vikram Divecha (India/UAE).

“The global pandemic,” notes museusemparedes.com, “has accelerated a disintegration of museums within digital networks. Perhaps what we are seeing today on the internet is the imaginary museum in full swing, shuffling and rewriting our aesthetic repertoires by virtue of pure cognitive deluge. Established institutions, unprepared for this game, lose space to image-sharing platforms as arenas for artistic legitimation and dispute over historical narratives ...The modern museum, unable to impose its hierarchies over online information systems, allows itself to be captured by the populist drive of social media. In the interest of renewing its own authority, the museum aspires to become a brand or to camouflage itself as an instagrammable setting,” empowering the viewer.

A composition by Angel Hui Hoi Kiu.

Digital library Perlego records that the concept of hybridity, associated with theorist Homi K. Bhabha, explores how the formation and reformation of new cultures as a result of colonial relations, disrupts any notion of a “pure” culture. The hybridisation process occurs in what Bhabha refers to as the “Third Space”, a site where new cultural identities are continually shaped. “Bhabha argues,” says Perlego, “that due to colonisation, the coloniser introduces aspects of their culture to the natives (often as part of the “civilising” missions of imperialism) and, in turn, the natives introduce parts of their culture to the coloniser. As such, hybridity is productive and makes space for cultural differences, rather than advocating for assimilation. Hybridisation can occur on numerous levels, including the racial, cultural, linguistic, and political.”

An AI Overview points out that Umberto Eco’s concept of the open work describes artworks that are designed to be dynamic and participatory, inviting the audience to actively create meaning through diverse interpretations rather than providing a single, fixed message. “This encourages a multiplicity of readings and fosters a deeper, interactive relationship between the audience and the art, transforming the work into a process rather than a finished product,” the Overview says.

RAi is an independent, artist-led social enterprise dedicated to fostering arts and culture across the Middle East and the wider majority world. It creates opportunities for dialogue and exchange through exhibitions, research, and interdisciplinary projects. Its mission is to nurture artistic practice, amplify underrepresented voices, and build long-term networks that connect visual arts, design, craft, technology and curatorial research. Founded in 2023 by Shafeena Yusuff Ali, an art collector, scholar and philanthropist, the Initiative has a commendable presence in the arts ecosystem of Abu Dhabi and beyond.

Hasseena Suresh's artwork The World I See.

One of the core RAi programmes is its Residency Program, which invites international and regional artists to live and work in Abu Dhabi, free of cost. Designed as a space for experimentation, dialogue and cultural immersion, the residency provides artists with time, resources and support, to develop new work, while engaging directly with the city and its communities. RAi is committed to experimentation and inclusivity, bringing together emerging and established artists, curators and thinkers, to imagine new cultural futures. Focusing on the intersections between tradition and innovation, the Initiative positions Abu Dhabi as a dynamic hub for global artistic exchange, while remaining rooted in regional narratives.

Currently RAi is expanding its curatorial vision, building partnerships across geographies and disciplines for creating and sustaining a vibrant ecosystem for contemporary cultural production. Shafeena is also the CEO of Tablez Food Company, Chairperson of Tablez India, and Director of Twenty14 Holdings. She has successfully established businesses in the UAE and India, actively pursuing community development through philanthropic initiatives in India and abroad. An MBA graduate from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, she is one of the most influential women in the Middle East.

Meena Vari, RAi Chief Curator, is an accomplished academic who has served as Dean at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore. She has curated for the Center for Experimental Media & Arts (CEMA). A Chevening Scholar and Fulbright Fellow, she has collaborated with institutions, including Tate UK and the Kochi Biennale Foundation.