Farah Fawzi Ali, Master’s student in Global African Studies at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, specializing in Museum and Critical Heritage Studies, is featured in the Fall 2025 exhibition Rays, Ripples, Residue at 421 Arts Campus, running through April 26, 2026. The exhibition marks the 10th anniversary of the independent arts platform and explores the lasting impressions, afterimages, and material residues that have shaped artistic production and exhibition-making in the UAE over the past decade.
Curated in chapters by Munira Al Sayegh, Nadine Khalil, and Murtaza Vali, the exhibition presents video, performance, installation, and multimedia works, highlighting both emerging artists and the influential role of cultural institutions in Abu Dhabi. Through its three curatorial perspectives, the exhibition examines the reverberations of past artistic practices, post-moment hauntings, and the ongoing critiques of commodification and elemental presence.
Farah’s commissioned work with Sa Tahanan Co., a Filipino creative collective, responds to the Dubai Summer Surprises mascot, Modhesh, and its late Filipino creator Romy Miclat. Reflecting on the contributions of the Filipino diaspora in the Gulf, her postcard installation, Modhesh Is Filipino, uses mixed media collage to explore diasporic identity, tourism, and cultural representation.
Farah said, “It’s gratifying to be able to pursue my creative passions in a way that allows me to critically reflect on my diasporic experience, while playfully creating in a medium that reflects my love for the vibrant, colourful, and kitsch… Through Modhesh’s brand, symbolizing an escape from the unrelenting heat through fun activities, the audience can decenter Filipino existence in the Gulf from just migrant labour. The diasporic experience can be imagined to encompass finding love, relaxation and enjoyment, communal life, and finding comfort and home here, there, anywhere.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public at 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi, previously known as Warehouse421, which has served as a hub for emerging artists and creative practitioners since 2015. Visitors can explore a range of works by UAE-based and regional artists, including installations by Bait 15, Charbel-Joseph H. Boutros, and collaborative pieces such as Sa Tahanan Co.’s Liham Mula Sa Araw (Letters from the Sun).
421 Arts Campus continues to support artistic development through exhibitions, residencies, workshops, and public programs, fostering critical dialogue and experimentation across visual arts, design, performance, and literary practices. For more information and to plan your visit, see Rays, Ripples, Residue.
Farah Fawzi Ali, Master’s student in Global African Studies at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, specializing in Museum and Critical Heritage Studies, is featured in the Fall 2025 exhibition Rays, Ripples, Residue at 421 Arts Campus, running through April 26, 2026. The exhibition marks the 10th anniversary of the independent arts platform and explores the lasting impressions, afterimages, and material residues that have shaped artistic production and exhibition-making in the UAE over the past decade.
Farah Fawzi Ali, Master’s student in Global African Studies at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, specializing in Museum and Critical Heritage Studies, is featured in the Fall 2025 exhibition Rays, Ripples, Residue at 421 Arts Campus, running through April 26, 2026. The exhibition marks the 10th anniversary of the independent arts platform and explores the lasting impressions, afterimages, and material residues that have shaped artistic production and exhibition-making in the UAE over the past decade.
Curated in chapters by Munira Al Sayegh, Nadine Khalil, and Murtaza Vali, the exhibition presents video, performance, installation, and multimedia works, highlighting both emerging artists and the influential role of cultural institutions in Abu Dhabi. Through its three curatorial perspectives, the exhibition examines the reverberations of past artistic practices, post-moment hauntings, and the ongoing critiques of commodification and elemental presence.
Farah’s commissioned work with Sa Tahanan Co., a Filipino creative collective, responds to the Dubai Summer Surprises mascot, Modhesh, and its late Filipino creator Romy Miclat. Reflecting on the contributions of the Filipino diaspora in the Gulf, her postcard installation, Modhesh Is Filipino, uses mixed media collage to explore diasporic identity, tourism, and cultural representation.
Farah said, “It’s gratifying to be able to pursue my creative passions in a way that allows me to critically reflect on my diasporic experience, while playfully creating in a medium that reflects my love for the vibrant, colourful, and kitsch… Through Modhesh’s brand, symbolizing an escape from the unrelenting heat through fun activities, the audience can decenter Filipino existence in the Gulf from just migrant labour. The diasporic experience can be imagined to encompass finding love, relaxation and enjoyment, communal life, and finding comfort and home here, there, anywhere.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public at 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi, previously known as Warehouse421, which has served as a hub for emerging artists and creative practitioners since 2015. Visitors can explore a range of works by UAE-based and regional artists, including installations by Bait 15, Charbel-Joseph H. Boutros, and collaborative pieces such as Sa Tahanan Co.’s Liham Mula Sa Araw (Letters from the Sun).
421 Arts Campus continues to support artistic development through exhibitions, residencies, workshops, and public programs, fostering critical dialogue and experimentation across visual arts, design, performance, and literary practices. For more information and to plan your visit, see Rays, Ripples, Residue.
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