The College of Arts and Creative Enterprises (CACE) at Zayed University presents “Home and Elsewhere” a photography, 2D design, and painting exhibition by ZU graduate, undergraduate and alumni creatives at Level 2 link bridge towards Family Park at The Galleria Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi. The group exhibition will be displayed from 30 March to 15 April 2022.

There are many traditions and cultures praising the merits of belonging to a ‘home’ as well as narratives of leaving it behind for the sake of peripatetic journeys to other worlds or places. These distinct traditions are not in conflict as they are deeply rooted in human experience. The essence of home, however, has shifted in our current times due to new remote technologies and most importantly due to the Covid -19 pandemic. The latter, instilled in our collective experience and consciousness the notion of the transient or remote home.

The works Home and Elsewhere encompasses underscore this shift, invite us to question the binary traditions between ‘home and elsewhere’ and to reflect on how we have adapted to this New Normal, post-pandemic way of living, and being in a place of home, or out of it in our own lives. The works aim to show a more imaginative viewpoint of the homely experience, pushing the notions ‘home’ and ‘out of home’ for contemplation and looking beyond the ordinary.

The works in Home and Elsewhere demonstrate the various mediums’ ability to capture the essence of what ‘place’ and ‘belonging to a place of home’ feels these days. Since home doesn’t necessarily mean a physical space, but rather a place that echoes feelings of both happiness and sadness, the artists employ methods such as the blurring of the lens and the absence of recognizable objects in their creative practice to further amplify that sentiment.

Home and Elsewhere is a testament of the conflict one encounters in finding the true reason why humans want to belong to a place. The artists utilize photography, 2D design and painting as a portal connecting to other worlds that they can dive in and out of whenever they please, to escape from reality and the binary notion of ‘here and there’.

This exhibition consists of photographs, paintings, and graphic design works by the following emerging artists:

Afra Khamis Jamra, Aisha Salmeen, Alyazy Thamer Al Mansoori, Ameera Khaleefa Rashed, Andrea Esquivel Ramos, Aseel Abdul Qader, Fatima Abdulsattar Hassan, Fatima Mohamed Al Blooshi, Fay Abdulkareem Al Shaabi, Maitha Yousef Al Marar, May Suhail Al Remeithi, Reem Ali Al Ibrahim, Ruqaya Al Shateri, Shamma Ahmed Albadi, Salmah Bakheet Al Mansoori, Meera Khalil Ahli, Safeya M. R. Sharif, Shereen Al Zaabi.