Etihad Modern Art Gallery in Abu Dhabi is currently home to Chroma, a collective exhibition that will run through 5 September 2025. Featuring eleven contemporary artists from the Middle East, South Asia, and beyond, the show celebrates colour as a universal language of emotion, memory, and imagination. Across a diverse range of paintings and mixed-media works, Chroma explores the expressive power of chromatic intensity, its ability to capture energy and create atmosphere.
Among the featured creatives is Pakistani artist Soraya Sikander, who debuts Circle of Life, a fresco-inspired work combining her signature calligraphic landscapes with celestial forms drawn from her Cosmos series. Inspired by the cycles of nature and the symbolism of sacred geometry, the piece resonates with both ecological and spiritual themes. On display are also intricate works by Pakistani artist Sana Hayat and Iranian artist Narges Soleimanzadeh‘s art piece, Parallel Organisms, which explores the space where memory and imagination intersect, weaving together human presence and natural motifs.
Kazakh painter, tapestry artist, and designer Balnur Assanova brings a distinctive visual language that bridges contemporary aesthetics with traditional nomadic motifs. South African artist Elwin Buchel adds joyful, vibrant canvases that, in his words, reflect “the happiness, joy, and energy of life.” His paintings radiate colour and vitality, offering viewers fresh perspectives and moods shaped by his intuitive process.
From Syria, Mahmood Al Daoud and Nidal Khaddour offer two complementary approaches. Al Daoud’s fantastical paintings transform the natural world into a realm where ordinary creatures become extraordinary through bright colours and dreamlike forms. Khaddour’s works blend abstract realism with cityscapes, nature, and light, using geometric shapes and bold tones to create dynamic yet harmonious compositions.
Visitors can admire paintings by Egyptian artist Magdy Elkafrawy, who explores the concept of the soul through the recurring motif of women’s faces. In his works, light and shadow become central protagonists, while nuanced tones and shades of colour reveal emotions, values, and hidden depths. The exhibition also features works by Egyptian artist Amani Elbayoumi, who contributes a series of delicate oil paintings of flowers, rendered in soft pink hues with accents of gold leaf, and two Iraqi artists, Mustapha Noureddine and Saad Twaij, whose works intertwine narrative and symbolism.
To get more information about Chroma, please go to the official Instagram account of the Etihad Modern Art Gallery.
In addition, you might be interested in visiting the No Trespassing group show and To Know Malaysia is to Love Malaysia: Highlights from The AFK Collection.
