Emirati Visions: A Conversation on Video Art at OMIC Cultural Hub
On Saturday, September 28, I will be part of a group presentation and discussion titled Emirati Visions: A Conversation on Video Art at OMIC Cultural Hub.
OMIC is a new space in Dubai that opened on September 18 and it inlcudes a gallery, cinema, cafe, and can also host workshops and talks.
They launched with a group exhibition titled Nothing Unusual, curated by Narges Soleimanzadeh which I included in my list of exhibitions to visit this season, and happy to be invited by Narges to be part of this event on Saturday.
I will show and discuss my video from 2022, A Performance of Valour, and glad to be part of this line up.
Film Programme: AFTERIMAGE, curated by Narges Soleimanzadeh
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Panel Discussion: Emirati Visions: A Conversation on Video Art
Date: Saturday, September 26 at 5:00 PM
Venue: OMIC Theatre, Goshi Warehouse City (location map)
Ticket: Free to attend, register here.
A gathering of artists, filmmakers, and curators exploring contemporary perspectives through moving image and dialogue.
Screening Programme Part 1:
PasserBy (Nujoom Al Ghanem, 2025, 7 min)
Satwa (Khalil Abdulwahid, 2025, 8 min)
A Performance of Valour (Hind Mezaina, 2022, 4 min)
Followed by a discussion with Nujoom Alghanem, Khalil Abdulwahid, Hind Mezaina and Manish Mundra, moderated by Valentina della Rocca + Q&A with the audience.
Screening Programme Part 2:
Birds of Nothingness (Ali Ettehad, 5:26 min)
Heptagram (Mohammad Ali Famori, 3:42 min)
Flash (Beatriz Minguez de Molina, 6:40)
Artist/Speaker Bios:
Ali Ettehad is a director, writer, visual and performing artist. He is also an art critic whose articles have been published in many international newspapers and magazines.Ettehad's main body of works is the RAZVARZI series (from 2007 till now) including video-art, digital media, book, installation, performance art, theater, music and film.His works are mostly research based and focused on middle-eastern mysticism and old Persian philosophy. One can find different symbols and elements that come from the mythological realm of the middle-east in Ali Ettehad's oeuvre; from Mesopotamia to Cashmere.
Beatriz Minguez de Molina is a visual artist and architect. She holds a degree in Art History from the University of Barcelona and a degree in Architecture from the Architectural Association in London. She completed the Master’s degree in Artistic Research and Production at the University of Barcelona in 2024–2025 with distinction and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Photography at PhotoEspaña.Her practice draws on the landscape genre, focusing on the relationship between human beings and nature, the concept of the wild, and the perception of space and time. Through image and video, she approaches natural elements—particularly water—as subjects and forms of energy, from a phenomenological and critical perspective within the current context of adaptation to climate change.
Her video art works have been awarded at international experimental film and video art festivals, including FIVA, File.org, Bideodromo, the Bugarte Film and Visual Arts Festival, Figueira Art Film Festival, Flux Festival, En Piezas at La Casa Encendida, and Choreoscope. Her audiovisual work is also part of the archives of Márgenes.org and PLAT.tv, an online film archive dedicated to independent Spanish cinema. Her work has been presented in a solo screening at the Granada Film Archive as part of the Women in Film programme, organized by the Institute for Women.
Hind Mezaina is an Emirati artist, film curator and writer from Dubai. Her interests lie in cinema, cities, visual culture, collective memory and archives. As an artist she works primarily in analogue photography and lately with moving image. She has been exhibited locally and internationally, including Art Dubai, Abu Dhabi Art, Sharjah Biennial 13: Tamawuj, Jameel Arts Centre, Nadežda Petrović Art Gallery, London Short Film Festival, Alternative Film/Video, and Safar Film Festival. As a film curator, she has programmed screenings for art institutions in the UAE including Louvre Abu Dhabi, NYUAD Art Gallery, Sharjah Art Foundation, The Africa Institute, and Jameel Arts Centre. She launched The Culturist Film Club in 2022 and hosts screenings at various venues in Dubai. The film club is an offshoot of her blog theculturist.com which she started in 2009 where you can find her writings.
Khalil Abdulwahid is a prominent contemporary Emirati visual artist whose creative evolution spans traditional painting, experimental video art, and mixed-media installations. His artistic journey began in the mid-1990s at Al Marsam Al Hur (The Open Atelier), a pioneering space in Dubai where he trained under the late Hassan Sharif, the father of conceptual art in the Gulf. This foundational mentorship instilled in Abdulwahid a lifelong reverence for process, material, and regional history.His artistic practice is characterized by a compelling stylistic duality. His paintings often utilize heavy shapes, thick lines, and dark backgrounds to construct empty domestic interiors that evoke a visceral sense of loneliness and privacy. In contrast, his realistic portraiture and abstract works use bold brushstrokes to manipulate light and shadow. In his recent mixed-media works, he embeds the actual, worn-out tools of local artists directly into the paper, turning them into physical carriers of cultural memory.Simultaneously, Abdulwahid stands out as an early regional adopter of video art, using the medium to create layered visual metaphors that capture the urban rapidness and environmental shifts of the UAE.
While balancing his personal practice with his high-level leadership at the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, his artwork continues to be featured in prestigious institutional exhibitions globally, including showcases in Abu Dhabi, Berlin, and the United States.
Manish Mundra is an Indian multi-disciplinary artist whose creative practice spans filmmaking, photography, painting, and poetry. An acclaimed filmmaker and storyteller, he is the producer behind award-winning films including Newton, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, as well as Ghaath, Aadhaar, Siya, and Isola. Beyond cinema, his artistic practice explores humanity, nature, memory, and emotion through photography and painting, with his celebrated Wild Africa series reflecting his sensitivity to the natural world. His poetry further explores love, solitude, resilience, and the human condition.
In addition, Manish Mundra is the founder of OMIC, a creative hub in Dubai, UAE, bringing together artists, filmmakers, photographers, and creative communities to foster collaboration and artistic expression.
Mohammad Ali Famori is an Indian-born Iranian visual artist and curator whose innovative multidisciplinary practice redefines contemporary fine arts. Specializing in video art, glitch aesthetics, and sacred geometry, Famori has emerged as a leading figure in Iran's digital art scene. His work explores transcendence, mysticism, and universal truths, inviting viewers to contemplate the unseen layers of existence. With a BA in Photography from the University of Art, Tehran, and a Master's in Cultural Management, Famori laid the foundation for his groundbreaking career. He pioneered Iran's digital art movement by curating the country's first glitch video art group exhibition, a milestone that showcased his commitment to new media and emerging artists.
Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati visual artist, poet, and multi-award-winning film director. She has published eleven poetry collections and produced over twenty films, spanning fiction, non-fiction, and art genres. Her cinematic works have garnered recognition with numerous local, regional, and international accolades. In addition to her roles as a regional art and film consultant, she serves as a professional trainer and mentor in art, filmmaking, and creative writing. Nujoom is renowned for her versatile expertise and profound contributions to the arts and film movement. She embarked on her professional journey in the early 1980s, emerging as one of the pioneering artists who adeptly integrated various forms and media into her work. She represented UAE at the Venice Biennale in 2017 and 2019. Nujoom holds a master’s degree in film production from Griffith University in Australia, and a bachelor’s degree in video production from Ohio University in the United States, with a special focus on art and theatre.
Valentina della Rocca is an art curator, gallery consultant, and cultural strategist based in Dubai with 15 years experience within film industry as Film Liaison (Venice International Film Festival, Dubai international Film Festival and Red Sea Film Festival). She currently serves as the Art and Space Curator at The Warehouse, where she designs vibrant community events, workshops, and high-profile art exhibitions. Educated at the University of Pisa in Italy, Valentina brings over a decade of international experience in arts management, media strategy, and cultural programming. She specializes in building creative partnerships and restructuring gallery operations to connect global artists with new audiences. A passionate educator, she also designs and teaches specialized "Art Gallery Management" workshops for institutions like the American University in Dubai.