LAILA ABDUL-HADI JADALLAH

Arab Pop Art: Between East and West, Middle East Institute, September 12, 2025 - January 23, 2026

Arab Pop Art: Between East and West explores the evolution of an art movement that blends Arab cultural motifs and symbols with the visual language of Western Pop art. Emerging in the 1960s, Arab pop art exploded with the rise of social media and new digital technologies in the 2000s. Today, Arab pop artists harness creativity, satire, and a savvy awareness of street culture to comment on social and political issues in the Middle East, while also challenging regional stereotypes.

Featuring 14 artists from the Arab world and its diaspora, the exhibition explores the emergence of Arab Pop art as a bold fusion of cultural identity and global visual language that highlights a vibrant, evolving, and cosmopolitan Arab identity. The 35 works on display blend everyday symbols, regional motifs, and cultural commentary with striking imagery reminiscent of Western pop art icons like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The result is a show that challenges norms and informs new perspectives on art, identity, and culture in the Middle East.

Participating artists: Yusef Alahmad (Saudi Arabia/US), Chant Avedissian (Egypt), Marwan Chamaa (Lebanon/US), Yasmine Nasser Diaz (Yemen/US), Rasha Eleyan (Palestine/UK), Hassan Hajjaj (Morocco), Tony Khawam (Syria/US), Mous Lamrabat (Morocco), Ilyes Messaoudi (Tunisia), Qarm Qart (Egypt/Italy), Rana Salam (Lebanon), Water With Water (Nathan Ross Davis & Sarah Elawad, Qatar), Helen Zughaib (Lebanon/US).

Perfume in Exile (عطر الغربة), Friends Artspace, January 25 - April 26, 2025

Perfume in Exile (عطر الغربة) is a meditation on what we carry with us. The title is inspired by the French term, sillage, which describes how a scent lingers in the air. The exhibition considers the residues of place—both real and imagined—that persist through objects.

Friends Artspace is honored to present the work of nine artists and design studios from Southwest Asia and North Africa and their diasporas: Afraa Ahmed (Yemen/Egypt), Anahita (Ani) Bradberry (Iran/USA), Maryam Al-Homaid (Qatar), Maryam Turkey (Iraq/USA), Moïo Studio (Palestine/France), Nour Hage (Lebanon/UAE), REJO Design Studio (Palestine/Saudi Arabia), Tamara Barrage (Lebanon/UAE), and Tamara Kalo (Lebanon/Saudi Arabia).

Drawing from their manifold cultural ties and contemporary design practices, these artists craft memory-laden, futurist works in ceramic, glass, textile, plaster and light—souvenirs of home that resound with intimacy and innovation.

Co-curated with Margaret Bakke. Images by Ethan Hickerson for Friends Artspace.

Next to each artist’s name is listed her place of origin, followed by where she currently resides.

More Than Your Eyes Can See: Contemporary Photography from the Arab World, Middle East Institute, June 3 - October 21, 2022

More Than Your Eyes Can See: Contemporary Photography from the Arab World features the work of 15 photographers from the Arab world and its diaspora who are defining the practice of photography in the Middle East. Employing photojournalism and fine art photography, their diverse work provides an intimate and dynamic lens through which to see the Arab world—shedding light on the lived experience and taking viewers to new and unexpected places.

The exhibition celebrates some of the most exciting voices of a generation of artists and photographers who are pushing boundaries, and challenging what we know and how we see. Through storytelling, experimentation and new media, their work marks the present and imagines possible futures, as they explore notions of place, identity, the body, the environment, youth culture, politics, and more. Ultimately, More Than Your Eyes Can See introduces audiences to a world that is so much more than it appears. 

The exhibition featured works by: Mohammad Alfaraj, Eman Ali, Amr Attamimi, Zied Ben Romdhane, Imane Djamil, Farah Foudeh, Rula Halawani, Yasmine Hatimi, Samar Hazboun, Amir Hazim, M'hammed Kilito, Seif Kousmate, Fethi Sahraoui, Najla Said, and Ismail Zaidy.

The exhibition is organized in partnership with Tribe magazine, a non-profit publication and platform focused on documenting photography, film and video from the Arab world. Tribe has featured the work of all of the artists included in the show.

Research Labs, Qatar America Institute for Culture, an exhibition by VCUarts Qatar, February 2023 – August 2023

As part of an annual exhibition exchange between the VCUarts Richmond and VCUarts  Qatar  campuses, the Research Labs exhibition features groundbreaking projects from eleven teams of faculty, students, and alumni. The exhibition highlights a cross-section of collaborative research, including projects exploring Arabic typography, art law, cultural typography, emergent technology, graphic publishing, nanotechnology and textiles, pedagogy, product design, sound design, and statistical analysis.

IMPART Artist Grantee Exhibitions, Qatar America Institute for Culture, May 15 - August 11, 2022

Qatar America Institute for Culture IMPART Artists program and exhibition, awarded three artists $5,000 each cycle for work that explored the intersections between sustainability, technology and the arts.

Exhibiting artists included: Hoesy Corona, Nura Dhar, Roger Mukbel, Farjana Salahuddin, Salma Hassaan and Randa M.

Art in Isolation: Creativity in the Time of Covid-19, Middle East Institute, October 2020 - March 2021

Art in Isolation: Creativity in the Time of Covid-19 was the MEI Art Gallery’s first ever open call show, paying tribute to the experiences and reflections of artists from the Middle East and its diaspora during a period of global crisis.

The exhibition featured 54 works by 39 emerging, mid-career, and established artists: Afaf Zurayk, Afraa Ahmed, Alia Damithan, Amer Akel, Amina Ayman Kadous, Asim Ahmed, Athar Jaber, Carol Mansour, Dahlia Abdelilah Baasher, Ebtisam Abdulaziz, Erhan Us, Fatema Al Fardan, Firouz FarmanFarmaian, Heba Amin, Helen Zughaib, Ilyes Messaoudi, Jack Persekian, Jamila Rizgalla, Katya Traboulsi, Maitha Damithan, Mahmoud Alhaj, Manal Deeb, Mansour el Habre, Maysaloun Faraj, Mehdi Djelil, Melissa Chimera, Moath Alofi, Mous Lamrabat, Qais Assali, Raafat Ballan, Ralph Khoury, Rami Saab, Rania Matar, Reem Al Jeally, Sama Tari, Sepideh Salehi, Sina Ata, Sinan Tuncay

Curated by Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, multiple themes emerged in the selection: among them, an emphasis on found materials given the lack of access artists had to their studios; a focus on the interior world, as artists found themselves isolated inside their homes in countries where quarantines were strictly enforced; and the intersection of war and the pandemic, with several of the artists experiencing both simultaneously. The artists represented here turned their state of isolation into a rich palette of reflections, imaginary worlds, and biting critiques about a moment in time that has left an indelible mark on all of our lives.