Afra Al Dhaheri, Give your weight to the ground (spiral staircase), 2023
Steel, stained wood, ratchet, cinderblock, and cotton ropes, 500 x 180 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Don’t pull my hair (set of two), 2023
Cotton rope on stained wood and concrete cinderblock
Installation dimension: 224 x 475 x 60 cm
224 x 224 x 60 cm each
Afra Al Dhaheri, Don’t pull my hair (set of two) (detail), 2023
Give Your Weight To The Ground, Afra Al Dhaheri
Installation view at Green Art Gallery, Dubai, 2023
Afra Al Dhaheri, More afloat than grounded no. 2, 2023
Stained wood, 300 x 90 x 90 x 90 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, More afloat than grounded no. 2 (detail), 2023
Afra Al Dhaheri, Tangle, Untwist, REWIND - Sweat For Years To Come, 2023
Installation view at The Watermill Center, New York, NY, 2023
Afra Al Dhaheri, Tangle, Untwist, REWIND - Sweat For Years To Come (detail), 2023
Afra Al Dhaheri, Tangle, Untwist, REWIND - Sweat For Years To Come (detail), 2023
Afra Al Dhaheri, Tangle, Untwist, REWIND - Sweat For Years To Come (detail), 2023
Afra Al Dhaheri, Weighing the Line, 2022
Cotton rope and wood
Afra Al Dhaheri, Weighing the Line (detail), 2022
Afra Al Dhaheri, I met a line and we made paintings no. 2, 2022
Acrylic on wood panel, 210 x 120 x 3.5 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, I met a line and we made paintings no. 2 (detail), 2022
Afra Al Dhaheri, No. 24 (Spaces for improvisation), 2022
Cotton mesh on wood, 120 x 80 x 3.5 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Bobby tamed our frizz, 2022
Afra Al Dhaheri, Bobby tamed our frizz (detail), 2022
Afra Al Dhaheri, Pillow Fort Playground (نلعب بيت؟), 2021
Marble, 357 x 160 x 289 cm, 143 x 120 x 52 cm
© Afra Al Dhaheri 2021
Commissioned by and Collection of Expo 2020 Dubai
Afra Al Dhaheri, Pillow Fort Playground (نلعب بيت؟) (detail), 2021
Afra Al Dhaheri, Pillow Fort Playground (نلعب بيت؟) (detail), 2021
Afra Al Dhaheri, Back-combing, 2021
Cotton rope, 255 x 130 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Back-combing (detail), 2021
Afra Al Dhaheri, Hide and seek No.2, 2021
Glazed white stoneware, 30 x 14 x 35 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Hide and seek No.2 (detail), 2021
Afra Al Dhaheri, Indomie curls, 2021
Glazed white stoneware, 35 x 35 x 20 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Indomie curls (detail), 2021
Afra Al Dhaheri, Fil Al Shaar, 2020
Cotton rope, Dimensions variable
Afra Al Dhaheri, Fil Al Shaar (detail), 2020
Afra Al Dhaheri, One at a Time (To Detangle Series), 2020
Hair on cotton fabric, 200 x 35 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, One at a Time (To Detangle Series) (detail), 2020
Afra Al Dhaheri, Absent Yet Present, 2020
Wood and metal door handle with key
277 x 106 x 22 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Too Pretty To Let Go, Too Heavy To Carry On, 2020
Cement, hair and pvc tube, Composed of 3 pcs
35 x 9 x 9 cm each
Afra Al Dhaheri, Spiral staircase No. 1, 2 & 3, 2020
Acrylic and carbon graphite on paper
Triptych, 25 x 18 cm each
Afra Al Dhaheri, Split Ends, 2020
Cement, resin and foam, Composed of 13 pcs
40 (diameter) x 20 (thickness) cm each
Afra Al Dhaheri, No. 2 (Split Ends Series), 2020
Cement, resin and foam
84 (diameter) x 40 (thickness) cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Tasreeha, 2020
Cotton rope, 600 x 600
Installation view at Beyond: Emerging Artists
Abu Dhabi Art, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Afra Al Dhaheri, Tasreeha (detail), 2020
Afra Al Dhaheri, To detangle Series, 2020
Rope, artist’s hair and cotton
Installation view at Beyond: Emerging Artists
Abu Dhabi Art, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Afra Al Dhaheri, No. 1 (To Detangle Series), 2020
Palm fiber rope, 32 x 32 x 115 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, No. 2 (To Detangle Series), 2020
Cotton rope, 32 x 115 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, No. 4 (To Detangle Series), 2020
Cotton rope and natural cork, 15 x 20.5 x 55 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, No. 6 (To Detangle Series), 2020
Cotton rope, 25 x 90 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Preserving impatience I, 2017
Glass, porcelain, 20 x 20 x 10 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Preserving impatience II, 2017
Glass, porcelain, 15 x 15 x 10 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, We Hang No More, 2017
Glass, Dimensions variable
Afra Al Dhaheri, We Hang No More (detail), 2017
Glass, Dimensions variable
Afra Al Dhaheri, St. Ives Drawing 2, 2019
Hair and watercolor on paper, 26 x 36 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, St. Ives Drawing 2 (detail), 2019
Hair and watercolor on paper, 26 x 36 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Between existence and absence, 2018
Cement, wax, and charcoal on cotton fabric mesh
209 x 121 cm (each side)
Afra Al Dhaheri, Between existence and absence (detail), 2018
Cement, wax, and charcoal on cotton fabric mesh
209 x 121 cm (each side)
Afra Al Dhaheri, Stripped away from all constructs, 2018
Cement and charcoal on cotton fabric mesh
210 x 110 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Stripped away from all constructs (detail), 2018
Cement and charcoal on cotton fabric mesh
210 x 110 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, The past is tomorrow (No. 2), 2017
Hand built ceramic, cement and fabric, 160 x 22 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, The past is tomorrow (No. 2) (detail), 2017
Hand built ceramic, cement and fabric, 160 x 22 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Dining East or West, 2016
Glass, ceramic, cement, and cinderblocks
Dimensions variable
Afra Al Dhaheri, A version of a version of my feet, 2017
Poured sand cast glass, 6.5 US shoe size
Afra Al Dhaheri, Dry flowers, 2016
Poured glass and dry flowers, 35 x 12 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Absence in presence, 2017
Cement, acrylic, graphite and watercolor on paper
50 x 75 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, To Preserve, 2017
Cement and encaustic on wood panel, 62 x 45 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Thoughts on fabric, 2015
Encaustic, cement, charcoal, graphite, colored pencil on stiffened cheesecloth
Left (62 x 80 cm), Right (62 x 115 cm)
Afra Al Dhaheri, Absence recalled, 2015
Oil, twine and cement on canvas, 45 x 35 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, In absence we don’t remember, 2015
Intaglio print and cotton mesh on paper, 27.5 x 22.5 cm (each)
Afra Al Dhaheri, In absence we don’t remember, (detail) 2015
Afra Al Dhaheri, My Urban Desert, 2016
Found wood, music wire, cement, Dimensions variable
Installation view at T + H Gallery, Boston, USA
Afra Al Dhaheri, Who Has Time For It?, 2016
Steel pipes, rope, cement and plaster, 135 x 75 cm
Afra Al Dhaheri, Who Has Time For It? (detail), 2016
Steel pipes, rope, cement and plaster, 135 x 75 cm
Detail of Afra Al Dhaheri, I met a line and we made paintings no. 6, 2022
Afra Al Dhaheri’s work is rooted in her experiences growing up in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE – a place of recent and rapid change. Working across various mediums including mixed media, sculpture, drawing, painting, installation, photography, and printmaking, she draws out notions of time and adaptation, rigor and fragility.
With each experiment, there is a new phase, each new phenomenon or actualization plucked from her unique vocabulary of references – repetition acts as a method for prolonging time as much as a tool through which to truly experience or realize each stage of a work.
Afra Al Dhaheri, Too Pretty To Let Go, Too Heavy To Carry On No.3, 2021
Born in 1988 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Afra Al Dhaheri obtained her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island in 2017. She had her residencies from The Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship, in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design (2014); Porthmeor Studios, St. Ives, Cornwall, UK (2019); Viafarini, Milan (2022); and The Watermill Center, NY (2023). She was among the finalists for the Richard Mille Art Prize 2022.
Al Dhaheri is the Creator and Artistic lead for the project Collective Exhaustion (2024), with the inaugural production supported by the National Grant for Culture and Creativity at the Ministry of Culture and Youth of the United Arab Emirates.
Public commissioned works include: Union of Artists, commissioned by Dubai Culture in collaboration with Art Dubai (with artists Khalid Albanna, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Asma Belhamar and Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim) (2024); and Pillow Fort Playground, Public Art Programme, Expo 2020, Dubai, UAE (2021).
Solo exhibitions include: National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC (forthcoming); Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE (forthcoming); Give Your Weight To The Ground, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2023); Split Ends, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2021) and Inevitable Ephemera, T + H Gallery, Boston, MA (2016).
Selected group exhibitions include: Whispers on the Horizon, Taipei Biennial 2025, Taiwan (forthcoming); A Time Between Ashes and Roses, Aichi Triennale 2025, Japan (forthcoming); Public Matter, Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2024); Between the Tides: A Gulf Quinquennial, NYUAD Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi (2024); On Ma, Galleria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, Portugal (2024); Acacia Seeds, Galerie Balice Hertling, Paris, France (2024); Icon. Iconic., Art Here 2022 x Richard Mille Art Prize, Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Zemanna, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Tadaroj (Gradation), Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah, UAE (2021); Between the Sky and the Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE, Middle East Institute, Washington, DC (2021); Under Construction, Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2021); Hair Mapping Body; Body Mapping Land, ICD Brookfield Place, Dubai, UAE (2021); Beyond: Emerging Artists, Cromwell Place, London, UK (2021); Conscious Becoming, Tatjana Pieters, Ghent, Belgium (2021); Beyond: Emerging Artist, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2020); From Within, Riyadh, KSA (2019); Avoid Bad Dreams, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2019); Barcelona to Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2018); and Emirati Expressions, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2011 and 2015) amongst others.
Based in Abu Dhabi, Al Dhaheri also works as an Assistant Professor at Zayed University - Abu Dhabi.
Some transcendent works at the 5th edition of the Sculpture Park at Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur.
Discover the deeper meanings behind Afra Al Dhaheri's works and the stories of their creation.
A sense of stillness envelopes the viewer at Emirati conceptual artist Afra Al Dhaheri’s solo exhibition at Green Art Gallery.
Afra Al Dhaheri’s artwork at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, shows fringes of rope hanging from a wall, each one separating into a tangle of split ends by the time it reaches the floor. The similarity to human hair is intentional.
Abu Dhabi-based mixed-medium artist is committed to supporting the next generation of creatives here in the UAE.
Emirati artist Afra Al Dhaheri discusses her Expo 2020 Dubai installation, Pillow Fort Playground, and how it brings together shared childhood memories.
Rooted in her experiences of growing up in Abu Dhabi, conceptual artist Afra Al Dhaheri’s work examines the fluidity of hair as symbolising notions of time, memory, fragility and social reflection.
Benedetta Ghione, executive director at Art Dubai, spotlights 5 unmissable new works by regional artists at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Afra Al Dhaheri’s Pillow Fort is among the 11 public artworks to be unveiled during Expo 2020 and remain as public sculptures for District 2020.
Curator and writer Nadine Khalil fathoms the absence/presence of the body in works by three early career GCC-based artists Maitha Abdalla, Afra Al Dhaheri and Sarah Brahim. Discover these works beyond their material—and bodily—boundaries in this online format.
Emirati artist Afra Al Dhaheri is taking over the art scene one 6-metre sculpture at a time.
Al Dhaheri's work showcased at ‘Concepts and The Divine Abstract’ exhibition in DIFC
The mixed-media art of AFRA AL DHAHERI urges the viewer to consider social constructs through the prism of materials as disparate as concrete and hair. In a careful analysis of the public and private, she examines the unification of the artificial and the innate, the constructed and the dismantled.
In a marked departure from her harmonious, amoeba-like watercolors enfolding stands of human hair, Afra Al Dhaheri’s latest work suggests acts of transgression and rupture.
تحاول الفنانة عفراء الظاهري من خلال أعمالها الفننية أن تخلق ذلك التداخل بين الإشارة والرمز، بين المرئي والمخفي، بين اللحظة والذاكرة وهي مفاهيم تحضر باستمرار في أعمالها الفنية
The Emirati conceptual artist discusses hair — the inspiration behind her six-meter-high installation at Abu Dhabi Art in November.
How are young, homegrown talents making a name for themselves and who are they? Nadine Khalil examines the growing art scene for the younger generation of local artists.
Contemporary Identities features multi-disciplinary UAE based artist Afra Al Dhaheri.
Afra Al Dhaheri is among the artists from the region that are exhibiting their work in the exhibition From Within at Diriyah’s Industrial Zone on the outskirts of Riyadh.
Five UAE-based artists have recently converted a villa to five artists’ studios and a residency that doubles as an exhibition space in the Al Zafranah area of downtown Abu Dhabi. In a creative response to the lack of shared arenas for artists in the UAE, Bait 15 is an example of what can be done from the ground up, as Nadine Khalil finds out.
Artists Afra Al Dhaheri and Asma Belhamar in Union of Artists, commissioned by Dubai Culture in collaboration with Art Dubai, the first permanent large-scale public sculpture of the Dubai Public Art Initiative.
Afra Al Dhaheri is among the finalists for this year's Richard Mille Art Prize, presented with Louvre Abu Dhabi.
