Khali Balak Men RISO at Tashkeel commemorates risograph printing
- Last updated: July 25, 2026 | 08:57
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Tashkeel, the artist and designer studio supporting contemporary practice rooted in the UAE, presents Khali Balak Men RISO, a group exhibition that celebrates the spirit of risograph printing as a space for experimentation, collaboration and community, with works on show till August 21 in Tashkeel’s Nad Al Sheba Gallery. Curated by Ibrahim Zaki, the exhibition brings together artists and designers who have engaged with risographs through workshops, personal practices, and collective exchange, highlighting the beauty of limitation, layering, texture, and unexpected outcomes.
Risograph printing carries a language of its own: imperfect registration, vibrant colours, visible grain, and a handmade feeling that sits between printmaking and publishing. The exhibition reflects on how RISO can open new ways of thinking about image-making, storytelling, and reproduction. It invites participants and viewers to slow down, look closer, and appreciate the small surprises that happen when ink, paper, and machine meet. Through posters, prints, cards and experimental formats, the show presents a shared archive of learning, play and creative production — a reminder that printing is not only a technical process, but is also a way that brings people, ideas, and practices together.
Participating artists include Ahmed Mansour, Aysha Saif Al Hemrani Al Shamsi, Bassem Boules, Dina Saadi, Ibrahim Zaki, Mariam Abbas, Mohannad Orabi, Nasir Nasrallah, Sara Baali and Weam S. Ali. Ahmed Mansour is an Egyptian art director and illustrator based in the UAE. With a background in advertising and design, his work brings together lettering, illustration, and graphic design; his practice combines conceptual thinking and playful visual storytelling, often using humour and cultural insight to create bold and astonishing visuals.
Aysha Saif Al Hemrani Al Shamsi, popularly known as @Mnawrah, is an Emirati artist and communications professional with experience across government communications, youth projects, media, advertising, and art. Her creative work celebrates Emirati pop culture through digital art. She has participated in Middle East Film and Comic Con for five consecutive years, winning awards in digital art and fan-favourite categories. She also launched the Mnawrah app, offering artwork for different occasions. Bassem Boules is an artist and graphic designer with a strong interest in realism and the legacy of the Old Masters. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Alexandria University, he has worked as a freelance designer in Egypt and the UAE. His practice moves between physical and digital media, with a particular focus on portraiture and private commissions.
Dina Saadi is a Dubai-based, Syrian-Russian street artist known for colourful, vibrant murals featuring portraits, animals, and abstract forms inspired by nature and the underwater world. Her work explores identity, emotion and our connection to nature, through bold patterns and bright colour palettes. She has painted more than 150 murals across the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa, and has been featured in publications including Vice, The Guardian, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar.
Ibrahim Zaki is a Dubai-based multidisciplinary designer and calligrapher with a BA in Graphic Design from An-Najah National University, Palestine. Since 2008, his practice has explored Arabic typography, calligraphy, branding, and visual culture. He has collaborated with brands and institutions including SQUATWOLF, On, Samsung, Ray-Ban, Leo Burnett, Oliver Wyman, and Landor. His work has been exhibited internationally and selected multiple times for the Hundred Best Arabic Posters. Mariam Abbas is an Emirati illustrator and visual designer whose work draws from architecture and botany. Through pen-and-ink drawings and contemporary acrylic paintings, she explores how place, structure, and nature shape everyday environments. She was the first Emirati artist to be featured on Instagram’s official account, and her work has appeared in publications including Harper’s Bazaar, The National, and Gestalten. She has exhibited internationally and collaborated with brands including L’Occitane, Nestlé KitKat, Masafi, Etihad Airways, Mirzam, and Apple.
Mohannad Orabi is a Syrian artist born in Damascus in 1977, currently living and working between Dubai and Canada. His work explores spontaneity, the liberation of form and colour, and the emotional world of childhood. Orabi graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus in 2000 and won first prize at the National Young Syrian Artists Exhibition in 2006. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions across Damascus, Amman, Dubai, Jeddah, and other cities. Nasir Nasrallah is an Emirati artist, curator, and cultural practitioner born in Sharjah in 1984. His practice is rooted in experimentation with materials, everyday objects, ideas, and stories, creating personal responses to the environments and communities around him. He founded Marsam Al Sahel studio in 2019 and has exhibited widely in the UAE and internationally, including at Sharjah Biennial 11 and the Cairo Biennial. He is also active in children’s books, comics, education, and cultural programming.
Sara Baali is a graphic designer and illustrator, holding a Bachelor’s in Visual Communication from the University of Sharjah. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for creativity, Sara’s graphic design design skills led her to be selected for the 2019 Emirates International Poster Festival (EIPF) at Dubai Design Week. In addition, Sara has a strong interest in jewellery design. Weam S. Ali is a Sudanese artist, illustrator and graphic designer based in Dubai. Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, she has spent the past eight years working professionally across illustration, typography, and graphic design. Her practice explores colour, composition and mark-making as tools for storytelling, moving between artistic expression and visual communication. Through drawing, refining and experimentation, she creates work that balances structure, playfulness, and quiet reflection.