Abu Dhabi Art 2025

The Third Line is pleased to present a dynamic group of works by Anuar Khalifi, Farah Al Qasimi, Jordan Nassar, Nima Nabavi, Rana Begum, Vian Sora, and Youssef Nabil. Together, these artists reflect a multiplicity of practices rooted in personal narrative, cultural inheritance, and formal experimentation.

Working across a range of material and conceptual frameworks, the abstract works in the presentation engage with perception, geometry, memory, and transcendence. Rana Begum experiments with light, color, and form to create paintings that transform the viewer’s experience of space, while Jordan Nassar reinterprets traditional Palestinian embroidery to construct speculative landscapes of home and yearning. Nima Nabavi maps out the universe with his geometric compositions, which invite viewers to lose themselves in. Vian Sora’s layered, gestural paintings stand as vessels for psychic excavation, shaped by experiences of displacement and resilience.

Figurative works in the presentation explore identity, performance, and narrative through a critical and often deeply personal lens. Youssef Nabil’s hand-colored portraits of renowned Iranian female figures such as Farah Diba Pahlavi, Googoosh, and Shirin Neshat reimagine cultural icons with intimacy and care, blending personal memory with broader narratives of identity. Farah Al Qasimi’s photography captures everyday scenes with a vibrant, surreal sensibility, investigating consumer culture, gender, and the construction of identity in the Gulf and beyond. Anuar Khalifi employs visual irony and symbolism to subvert orientalist tropes, constructing nuanced portrayals of masculinity, rebellion, and postcolonial identity.

Collectively, the artists reflect The Third Line’s commitment to presenting contemporary voices from the region and its diasporas that challenge, illuminate, and reimagine the spaces they inhabit.

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Tarek Al-Ghoussein at Abu Dhabi Art

In and Around 6

A selection from Tarek Al-Ghoussein’s final body of work titled Odysseus will be presented in the In and Around section of Abu Dhabi Art.

Lamya Gargash at Abu Dhabi Art

Curated by Cima Azzam and commissioned by Maraya Art Centre

Community Partners Section presented by Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) in collaboration with Salasil

Originally commissioned and exhibited by Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah, Lamya Gargash’s Kun: To Be inaugurates a new body of work that weaves nostalgia with restlessness, connecting Sharjah, Dubai, London, and Bath through gestures of gold drapery, a symbol of continuity and renewal. For Abu Dhabi Art, Maraya Art Centre reimagines Kun: To Be as a special edition, expanding upon its initial presentation to respond to Abu Dhabi’s unique architectural and cultural context. Viewers are invited not merely to look, but to dwell, to inhabit the delicate pause between what has been and what may yet become.

Book Launch: Ardeshir the Thirteenth by Nazzy Beglari

HSBC Collector’s Space

3-3:45 PM | Wednesday, 19 November 2025

Ardeshir the Thirteenth: The Interview of Ardeshir Mohassess with Ardeshir Mohassess, published by Nazar Publishing, is authored by Nazzy Beglari, an award-winning Iranian-American journalist and long-time friend of the legendary Iranian painter, Ardeshir Mohassess (1938–2008), who was celebrated for his sharp political satire and distinctive style rooted in Persian miniature, chronicling themes of power, oppression, and social justice, political satire and woman rights. For the book launch at Abu Dhabi Art, Beglari will be joined by Alma Bahmanpour from Nazar Publishing and the Iranian painter, illustrator, and printmaker, Nicky Nodjoumi.

Mapping Primary Structures: Sahand Hesamiyan

HSBC Collector’s Space

4-4:45 PM | Wednesday, 19 November 2025

Sahand Hesamiyan: Primary Structures is the artist’s first monograph published by Black Dog Press. Edited by Saira Ansari, with essays contributed by Nada Raza, Maymanah Farhat, and Helen Pheby, this richly illustrated monograph offers the first comprehensive look at the practice of Sahand Hesamiyan, who works across a wide range of forms that investigate the connections between geometry, mythology, and philosophy within Islamic and Persian architectural traditions. Hesamiyan will be joined by Nadine Khalil, art critic, editor, and curator, for a conversation at Abu Dhabi Art, moderated by Ansari.