Fictional Landscapes is a group exhibition at Foundry Downtown Dubai, arranged by five women-led galleries and curated by Nadine Khalil, Alisa Bagdonaite, and Serafima Kostrova. On view until 15 December 2024, the show spotlights 28 female artists from across the globe, celebrating resilience, beauty, and strength through a distinctly female lens.
The exhibition displays a full range of artworks, from textiles and paintings to performances, produced by artists from the Emirates, Armenia, India, Pakistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and beyond. These creators use landscapes (urban, imagined, natural, and artificial) to explore themes of memory, migration, identity, and resilience, transcending geopolitical boundaries and reimagining relationships between time, place, and power.
Among those featured in the exhibition are such Russian artists as Anna Komarova, whose work explores themes of space, memory, and humanity’s relationship with the environment, and Olya Kroytor, who employs performance, installations, and painting to examine identity, space, and freedom.
Moscow-born artist Alexandra Paperno, whose practice deploys painting, installations, photography, and video, focuses on themes of modern architecture and utopia she depicts through the imagery of dreams. One of the pieces from her Canceled Constellations series, on display in the exhibition, reflects on constellations removed from the official star registry in 1922, inviting contemplation on humanity’s tendency to draw boundaries while highlighting universal connections.
Belarusian artist Vasilisa Palianina delves into identity, gender, and Belarusian politics through mythological lenses, using graphics, installations, and performance. Meanwhile, Armenian artist Mary Badalian examines vulnerability through embroidery, revealing raw and authentic aspects of human experience.
Indian artist Richi Bhatia interrogates identity through intuitive and methodical practices, focusing on the female body, psyche, and character as they intersect with personal histories and societal narratives. Dubai-based artist Sara Masinaei draws on the sociopolitical nuances of the Middle East, exploring themes of cultural evolution and gender dynamics in her multidisciplinary practice.
Kazakh artist Almagul Menlibayeva works with video, photography, and mixed-media installations to address issues such as post-Soviet transformation, environmental degradation, and indigenous cosmologies and mythologies in Central Asia.
Other participating artists include Anna Afonina, Maryam Ashkanian, Olia Breva, Anna Fobia, Sophiya Khwaja, Taisia Korotkova, Lilia Li-Mi-Yan and Katherina Sadovsky, Katerina Lukina, Oksana Mas, Irina Nakhova, Lisa Olshanskaya, Lidia Russkova-Hasaya, Diana Shliman, Sofya Skidan, Olga Tatarintsev, Fatima Uzdenova, Asia Zaslavskaya, Liudmila Konstantinova, and Irina Zatulovskaya.
The galleries that have organised the Fictional Landscapes exhibition are Nadya Kotova Gallery (Belgium), Sardi Gallery (Armenia), pop/off/art (Russia), and two Emirati galleries: Alisa Gallery and Syntax Gallery. They champion diverse approaches to contemporary art.
Established in 2012, Nadya Kotova Gallery aims to spark a dialogue between post-Soviet and European art, while pop/off/art focuses on post-Soviet artists from Eastern and Central Europe. Sardi Gallery founded in 2021 is dedicated to Armenian contemporary art. Alisa Gallery, a Dubai-based curator-run space, emphasises ethical art practices, and Syntax Gallery established in 2019 promotes post-Soviet contemporary art globally.
Through its diverse collection and curation, Fictional Landscapes draws attention to the visibility, representation, and valuation of women’s contributions to contemporary art. It addresses the persistent inequities faced by female creatives and advocates for fair recognition in the global art market.
To get more information about Fictional Landscapes, please visit the official web page of the show.
In addition, you might be interested in viewing Fahrelnissa and the Institutes: Towards a Sky. We would also recommend that you read our article about three NFT female Arab artists.
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