A Way Through: Archive of Resilience

A Way Through: Archive of Resilience is a group exhibition of more than forty artists and contributors at Kutubna Cultural Center, Nadd Al Hamar, Dubai, from 3 October to 7 December 2026.

The exhibition is one of the outcomes of Documenting Culture in the Gulf in a Time of War. This is the centre's oral history project on the experiences of people living in the Khaleej. Kutubna frames it around one question: "How will this time be remembered and who will tell the stories of the people who live here?" More than seventy works are on show. They include journals, poems, short stories and publications, embroidery, crochet, collage, paintings, digital works and photographs.

The participants come from different generations and are based in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. They include visual artists, writers and poets. They are Karima Alshomely, Majd Al Henawi, Mona Al Khaja, Essa Al Mohannadi, Khulood Al Jabri, Neveen Abu Samra, Tagreed Albaqshi, Anna Peshkova, Yun Kusanagi (Youness), Aabidah Rakhange, Alina O'Dwyer, Alzahraa Soliman, Asha Divakaran, Asma Alali, Bettina Kulakowski, Carlie Manalac, Debra S. Mascarenhas, Diana Hancinska, Dwa bint Khalid Al Khalifa, Fabi Faisel, Fares Alsuwaidi, Gino Banola, Hind Tukan, Jacinta Sabaganga, Mona Biswarupa Mohanty, Nayyab Akram, Saira Safwan, Sana Waqar Khan, Samar Farooq, Sara A. Madan, Shaima Ali AlQassab, Shatha Abueljebain, Sorren Caryl Galiza, Tessy Koshy, Vivienne Mendonca, Mohamed Bin Hamad, Melika Shahin and R. Tarrannum, with three young children.

Mona Al Khaja (b. 1958) graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University, Cairo, in 1981. Her work has appeared in the Sharjah Biennial, the Cairo Biennial and Abu Dhabi Art. Her career was surveyed in the 2025 retrospective Caravan of Colors Through Time. Karima Alshomely (b. 1965) is a researcher and educator from Sharjah whose research focuses on the Emirati burqa and the sahhara, a bridal chest. Khulood Al Jabri (b. 1967) was Deputy Head of the Visual Arts Department at the UAE Ministry of Culture from 2012 to 2025. Fares Alsuwaidi (b. 1979) is a self-taught fibre artist in Sharjah who adapts traditional crochet to make abstract art blankets.