The Obligation of the Circle is the debut solo exhibition by UAE-based American artist Christopher Joshua Benton, currently on display at Baró O-Contemporary, Abu Dhabi. Running through 13 March 2026, the show offers a richly layered exploration of collective memory, communal practice, and the shaping of urban narratives.
At the heart of the exhibition is a new body of kilim tapestries, handmade works developed in collaboration with a weaving circle of women in Kabul, Afghanistan. These woven pieces map intertwined narratives of migration, gendered labour, and the yearning for homecoming. They create what Benton describes as a “cartography of return” that unites personal histories with broader diasporic experiences.
In addition to the tapestries, the show brings together part of Benton’s personal collection of Afghan war carpets alongside a Community Wall, a large photographic installation accompanied by printed images that document the artist’s interventions and engagements within Abu Dhabi’s carpet souk. Thus, the exhibition transforms the gallery into a site of encounter and reflection; it invites visitors to consider how memory, territory, and collective making coalesce to shape shared spaces.
Benton’s practice is grounded in collaboration and storytelling. His work often convenes diverse publics around shared acts of making and reflection, prompting questions about how cities are lived, shared, and imagined. The proceeds from producing the tapestries support Zuleya, a social enterprise dedicated to preserving Afghanistan’s ancient weaving traditions.
About the artist
Christopher Joshua Benton (b. 1988, USA) obtained a BFA in English from the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences (the University of Georgia, USA) and an MSc in Art, Culture, & Technology from MIT School of Architecture and Planning.
Benton works across a range of media, including sculpture, photography, public art, and collaborative projects. His interdisciplinary practice is rooted in close engagement with communities and explores themes such as labour, displacement, and civic belonging. Drawing on more than a decade of experience living in the UAE, the artist investigates how ideas of homeland and identity persist within migrant communities, while examining culture and innovation as potential tools for resistance and collective imagination.
Benton has presented his works in many exhibitions and art events internationally, including a solo show at Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo (Japan, 2025); the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial (2024); Counteractions (MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA, 2023); 59th Venice Biennale, Collateral Exhibition at Palazzo Franchetti Cavalli (Venice, Italy, 2022); and Al Seef Festival (Al Seef, Dubai, 2021), to name a few.
Benton has also taken part in academic programmes and fellowships, which include the HOPE Scholarship at the University of Georgia, the Gilman Scholarship at the University of Oxford, and a Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation fellowship at the Rhode Island School of Design. Among his accolades are the Obermayer Prize and the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer Prize.
To get more information about The Obligation of the Circle, please visit the official web page of the show.
Additionally, you might be interested in exploring The Bouquet and the Wreath by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook and the Rays, Ripples, Residue collective exhibition.
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