"Contained Fertility II" by Yasmine Al Awa uses a restrained color palette with muted tones, focusing on the dramatic contrast between shadows and light. The composition centers on a cut pomegranate, a symbol of fertility and life, placed against draped fabric, with a hand reaching from the edge. The style is a modern interpretation of still life, employing realism to evoke emotion. Al Awa’s work reflects her Syrian heritage and explores themes of memory and identity, offering a contemporary perspective on tradition within a modern context. ...
Yasmine Al Awa is an emerging Syrian artist whose work navigates themes of memory, identity, and cultural inheritance. Raised in the UAE, Al Awa’s practice reflects a duality between her deep connection to her Syrian roots and her exposure to the modernism of a rapidly advancing city. Her work speaks to the fragility of memory and identity, exploring how fleeting moments can become powerful anchors within one’s sense of self. Through this series, Al Awa offers a contemporary perspective on the traditions and aesthetics of Syria, imbuing her work with both personal nostalgia and universal themes of displacement and belonging. ...
Veronika Berezina founded NIKA Project Space in the UAE in 2023, a gallery that fosters the artistic inquiry of emerging and established artists and curators internationally, with a focus on practitioners from the Global South.
NIKA Project Space serves as a platform for artistic discourse and experimentation and champions the work of female artists and curators. In addition to exhibitions which focus on conceptualization, abstraction, and philosophical inquiry, NIKA Project Space offers a critically engaged programme that emphasizes contemporaneity and dialogue through talks, performances, and educational initiatives. The gallery also hosts a research programme, inviting artists to create impactful new works that implement research-based and experimental creative processes, ultimately facilitating the exploration and portrayal of nuanced societal experiences and historical narratives.
In 2024, NIKA Project Space inaugurated a European location in the Komunuma art district in Romainville,on the outskirts of Paris. In Dubai, the gallery is located in Al Khayat Avenue, Al Quoz. ...
