The Bassam Freiha Art Foundation (BFAF) presents Home Is Not A Place, a solo exhibition by Emilie Dubois, which will run through 31 May 2026. Taking place at the institution’s Annex Gallery, the show unfolds as an immersive meditation on belonging, displacement, and the shifting emotional geographies that shape the idea of home.
At the heart of the exhibition is a large interactive installation resembling a living room. Walls, furniture, and floors are animated by Dubois’s vivid, gestural brushwork and saturated palette. The space invites visitors to step inside, sit, touch objects, and leave traces of their presence, turning the artwork into a shared and evolving environment. Through this approach, Dubois blurs the boundary between artwork and lived experience and encourages viewers to reflect on how the idea of “home” is constructed not by geography alone but through memory, relationships, and personal history.
Complementing the installation is a series of mixed-media works that reflect on migration, memory, and the process of building emotional attachments in unfamiliar places. Through layered surfaces and vibrant chromatic contrasts, the artist evokes the tension between nostalgia and reinvention that often accompanies life between cultures.
This theme resonates strongly within Abu Dhabi’s diverse and multicultural environment, where many residents navigate lives shaped by movement across borders. By inviting audiences to physically enter the artwork, Dubois transforms the gallery into a space of collective reflection, where personal stories of displacement and adaptation intertwine with the artist’s own narrative.
About the artist
Emilie Dubois is a Guatemalan-born contemporary artist based in the UAE who works at the BFAF as an art educator and curatorial liaison. In her practice, which spans painting, installation, and mixed media, Dubois frequently addresses identity, migration, and cultural memory, drawing from her experience of living and working in different parts of the world. Exhibited across Central America, Europe, and the Middle East, her art combines expressive colour, autobiographical elements, and immersive spatial environments that invite audiences to participate in the work’s evolving meaning.
About BFAF
The Bassam Freiha Art Foundation is a non-profit contemporary art institution located in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District. Founded by Lebanese philanthropist and collector Bassam Said Freiha, the foundation officially opened in 2024 as the first private art foundation established within the district. BFAF brings together historical and contemporary works from the Middle East and beyond, while also promoting education, research, and public engagement through exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and artist talks.
The foundation is known for its engagement with Orientalist art and the extensive private collection assembled by Bassam Freiha over several decades. Rather than presenting Orientalism solely through a historical lens, BFAF reconsiders the complex cultural relationships between East and West by placing nineteenth-century European paintings in conversation with modern and contemporary artists from the Arab world.
Architecturally, the foundation is a notable addition to Abu Dhabi’s cultural landscape. Designed by architect Rasha Gebran, the building features a minimalist white geometric structure surrounded by reflective pools and open public spaces. Its clean lines, natural light, and restrained material palette create a calm environment intended to encourage contemplation and dialogue between the artworks and the surrounding architecture.
To get more information about Home Is Not A Place, please visit the official web page of the show.
Additionally, you might be interested in exploring Get Well Soon by Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola. We would also recommend that you read our interview with American abstract artist Seth P. Benzel.
To stay connected with the latest art news, you should follow our Telegram channel.
