Current Research, Projects & News (2019 onward)
RESEARCH GRANTS/AWARDS
Provost's Research Fellowship Award (PRFA) 2023, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE - Anima Mundi
Professional Development Grant (2021), Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Teaching Award, Zayed University (2020), Abu Dhabi, UAE
Professional Development Grant (2019), Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Teaching Award, Zayed University (2019), Abu Dhabi, UAE
Professional Development Grant (2019), Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Co-Investigator, Cluster Research Grant, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi UAE, 2018-2020
Title: “Behind the Scenes: Perceptions of Young Arab Women”
The research seeks to examine the perceptions of young Emirati women. This past fall, we held our first workshop on Sir Bani Yas island in collaboration with Dr. Justin Thomas. The theme of the workshop/retreat was the implementation of mindfulness as a setting for the creative practice.
SELECTED SITE-SPECIFIC PROJECTS/LAND ART
2022 Map Wall (we're all connected), Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Museum, Washington D.C., USA
2021 Spice/Study I-III, Bahia, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2019 Wish Tree (The Sacred Space Between the No Longer and the Non Yet), AL Fahidi District, XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE
SCREENINGS
Barcelona Indie Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain, Nomination (February 8, 2025)
Berlin Shorts Award, Berlin Germany, Semi-Finalist Award (October 16, 2024)
Dubai Independent Film Festival, Dubai, UAE, Semi-Finalist Award (July 31, 2024)
WRPN Women's International Film Festival, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Award Winner (June 22, 2024)
Experiments in Cinema V14.2, University of New Mexico, Department of Cinematic Arts, Albuquerque, New Mexico, curator/director Bryan Konefsky (April, 2019)
Gesture, AXWFF, Anthology Film Archives, NYC, New York, curator/director Lili White (March, 2019)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 GreenCat Gallery, Caunes-Minervois, France - Maintenant et Jadis (from Then to Now)
2024 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE - Be Fekret Hastam
2020 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE - The Ocean Refuses No River
2019 SIKKA Art Fair, XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE - Wish Tree
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE – Echoes of Sir Bani Yas: Artistic Reflections
2023 GreenCat Gallery, Caunes-Minervois, France - LES IN[CAUNES]TOURNABLES
2023 Cop 28, Women’s Pavillion, Expo City, Dubai - Resonating Tides (curator Janet Bellotto)
2022 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Museum, Washington D.C., USA – United Arab Emirates: Living Landscape/Living Memory (curators Michele Bambling and Rebecca Fenton)
2021 Shelter Art Space, Alexandria, Egypt – Miscegenation (curator Khaled Hafez)
2021 Cairo Photo Week (2nd Edition) & Photopia, Cairo, Egypt – Miscegenation (curators Khaled Hafez, Nelly Sharkawy)
2020 XVA Gallery, Dubai, UAE – Wolf Tone (curator Anna Seaman)
2019 The Painting Center, NYC, NY – Green (curator Rachael Wren)
PANELS/LECTURES
Guest Speaker, Naz Shahrokh and Laila Binbrek, Coordinating Director (National Pavilion United Arab Emirates), in dialogue onthe first 10 years of the UAE Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Istituto Italiono di Cultura, Abu Dhabi, UAE, April 28, 2021
PUBLICATIONS/REVIEWS
Shahrokh, Naz. “Land Art in The United Arab Emirates.” Return to the Source: New Energy Landscapes from the Land Art Generator , edited by Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry, Prestel Publishing, 2020, pp.22-26.
Yusuf, Muhammad. “XVA Gallery Maps Untold Stories in Significant Solo Exhibition.” www.GulfToday.com, June 10, 2020
Seaman, Anna, Contemporary Identities, Issue #4, December 2019, p.35-38
ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER
Advisory Board Member (2017-present), LAGI (Land Art Generator Initiative), https://landartgenerator.org/
Reviewer, Creative Projects, ISEA 2025, 30th International Symposium on Electronic/Emerging Art, Seoul, Republic of Korea May 23, 2025– May 29, 2025
Reviewer, Creative Projects, ISEA 2024, The 29th International Symposium on Electronic Art, EveryWhen, June 21-29, 2024, Brisbane Australia
Committee Member, ISEA 2023, The 28th International Symposium on Electronic Art, May 16-21, 2023, The Forum des Images, Paris, France