Currently, the historic ERTH Abu Dhabi Hotel is serving as a venue for Mirage, a collective exhibition organised by Thaer Select with curatorial direction by Nicolò Venelli of Vertygo. Launched in November as part of the wider Abu Dhabi Art Week programme, the show features 17 artists from the MENA region and beyond and will run through 27 December 2025.
Drawing its name from the shimmering optical phenomenon that appears at the horizon between reality and illusion, Mirage offers a poetic meditation on perception, displacement, memory, and desire. The curatorial concept frames the mirage as an encounter “between what is seen and what is imagined, between the world as it is and the world as it could be.” It positions the exhibition as a metaphorical journey across shifting landscapes of thought and experience.
The show brings together painting, sculpture, print, and mixed-media practices that hover between the tangible and the ephemeral. Among the participating creatives is Iranian-born artist Farah Soltani, who presents some of her abstract sculptures inspired by everyday objects while probing the act of seeing and the limitless potential of reinterpretation. Through subtle variations in form and placement, each structure assumes a distinct identity, engaging in a dynamic dialogue with its surrounding space.
Also featured are UAE-based artists Roudhah Al Mazrouei and Husna Samer. Al Mazrouei’s work is based on cultural memory, heritage, ecological interconnectedness, and archival research. One of the main sources of her inspiration is the Hajar Mountains and her ancestral village of Siji. Samer’s practice, meanwhile, examines how notions of home shift within global and migratory contexts, reshaping memory and the construction of the self. Her compositions, which oscillate between calm and intensity, draw on symbolism and surrealism to explore identity as both personal and collective.
Additional works are presented by Jordanian-Syrian artist Jude Samman, Egyptian-Palestinian artist Samo Shalaby, and Emirati brothers Talal and Ziad Al Najjar. Samman’s oil paintings depict dreamlike landscapes that blur memory and imagination, reflecting on belonging and the meaning of home. Shalaby‘s practice, which spans painting, stage design, and costume, uses theatrical symbolism and storytelling to explore identity, culture, and fashion through layered, often contrasting narratives.
Talal Al Najjar uses a full range of media (painting, drawing, sculpture, video, sound, and CGI animation) to address themes of heritage, society, youth, identity, and materiality. In contrast, Ziad Al Najjar focuses on the relationship between humanity and the natural environment, creating softly hued paintings that depict floral, animalistic, and organic abstract shapes.
The exhibition further includes works by Saudi painter Ahmad Sofi; Palestinian artist and architect Ahmed Alaqra; Iraqi artist and photographer Amir Hazim; Spanish artist Angel De Leon; Saudi painter and architect Hayfa Algwaiz; Belgian-born artist HazzA (Harry Lynch); Saudi artist and curator Latifa Al Bokhari; Iranian-born filmmaker and artist Mamali Shafahi; Sudanese-born artist, curator, and researcher Mowaffag Elsadig; and UAE-based artist Sara Kamar.
Curated with a strong emphasis on collaboration and creative resilience, Mirage reflects Thaer Select’s commitment to nurturing community and cross-regional dialogue, alongside Vertygo’s focus on amplifying emerging artistic voices. The exhibition invites audiences to move through a terrain where illusion becomes a lens for reconsidering both personal and collective narratives.
To learn more about Mirage, please visit the exhibition’s official web page.
In addition, you might be interested in viewing Improvisations, a group show at Gallery Isabelle.
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