Ahaad Alamoudi, WHAT IS THIS?! (still), 2019. Image courtesy of the artist
Published on 4 February 2026
Sharjah Art Foundation announces the opening of Sunkissed, a solo exhibition by Jeddah-based artist Ahaad Alamoudi, on 8 February 2026. On view at Gallery 6, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah, the exhibition draws on symbolic notions of the sun, the sand and accelerated development to examine how collective identity and visual expression intersect amid the Gulf’s rapidly transforming landscape.
In Sunkissed, Alamoudi presents six artworks, recent and newly commissioned, that explore strategies of communication between speculative futures and venerated histories. Her vivid snapshots of contemporary Khaleeji aesthetics blend humour with pop-cultural fluency—viral memes, talking falcons, toy cars and insect light traps become tools through which the artist navigates social and cultural change.
Upon entering the exhibition, the audience encounters WHAT IS THIS?! (2026), a video installation unsettling the idealised image of the falcon, deeply embedded in the region’s cultural imagination and visual iconography. The newly commissioned work portrays two falcons engaged in a sporadic conversation, unfolding in a repetitive loop, probing the concept of repetition as a mode of presence.
This mediated dialogue continues in The Great Catch (2026), in which Alamoudi presents an interaction between two reconfigured electronic fly traps animated by light and sound. Relieved of their original function, the machines ‘speak’ to each other—their mechanical exchange holds memory in place through repetition, rather than progression.
Questions of repetition and fatigue also surface in Let’s not twist and turn (2025), where a toy car circles in front of a fragile mound of miniature trucks, echoing the ceaseless back-and-forth motion of a construction site vehicle in the accompanying looped video. Rendered inert and absurd, the piled trucks form a monument of exhaustion, signifying both the weight of relentless development as well as the remnants left along the way.
These ideas are further explored in ‘Tyre mark’ (2025), her latest series of six paintings. Alamoudi isolates frames from a viral video in which a man repeatedly forms tyre patterns in sand and paints over screenshots already bearing digital residue, such as Snapchat watermarks and subtitles. By translating a fragment of digital media onto a canvas, Alamoudi reinscribes a moment that was once fleeting and endlessly reproducible, granting it a sense of permanence.
While Alamoudi’s recent works foreground recurrence as both a visual strategy and a condition of contemporary life, her earlier works situate these concerns within embodied and performative contexts. In Those Who Don’t Know Falcons Grill Them (2018), Alamoudi draws on a Gulf idiom and the Khabayti dance tradition to explore instability, anticipation and impermanence. Performers clad in falcon-patterned costumes rise and fall in unresolved gestures, briefly marking the sand before their traces disappear.
Similarly rooted in collective memory and rhythm, Bahara (Men of the Sea) (2019) is an immersive sound work grounded in maritime heritage. Remixing the traditional Al-Yamal chant with the rhythm of tides, Alamoudi creates a hypnotic soundscape in which shared labour, longing and breath are carried forward through repetition.
Sunkissed is curated by Amal Al Ali, Curatorial Assistant at Sharjah Art Foundation.
Through photography, video and print installations, Ahaad Alamoudi examines Saudi Arabia’s evolving social and cultural landscape and reimagines historical narratives within contemporary frameworks. Her solo exhibitions include Moving Mountains at Hayy Jameel, Jeddah (2024) and Heat Burns at Athr Gallery, Jeddah (2020). She has also participated in group exhibitions, such as Colour Bar, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah (2019); Screens Series, New Museum, New York (2019); Al Obour, 21,39 The Saudi Arts Council (2019); and Out of Place, Athr Gallery, Jeddah (2019). Alamoudi holds a BA in Visual Communication from Dar Al Hekma University, Jeddah (2014) and an MA in Print from the Royal College of Art, London (2017). She is currently pursuing a PhD at Royal College of Art, London.
Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.
Established in 2009 to expand programmes beyond the Sharjah Biennial, which launched in 1993, the Foundation is a critical resource for artists and cultural organisations in the Gulf and a conduit for local, regional and international developments in contemporary art. The Foundation’s deep commitment to developing and sustaining the cultural life and heritage of Sharjah is reflected through year-round exhibitions, performances, screenings and educational programmes in the city of Sharjah and across the Emirate, often hosted in historic buildings that have been repurposed as cultural and community centres. A growing collection reflects the Foundation’s support of contemporary artists in the realisation of new work and its recognition of the contributions made by pioneering modern artists from the region and around the world.
Sharjah Art Foundation is a legally independent public body established by Emiri Decree and supported by government funding, grants from national and international nonprofits and cultural organisations, corporate sponsors and individual patrons. Hoor Al Qasimi serves as President and Director. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.
Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates, and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. It was named UNESCO's Arab Capital of Culture for 1998 and the UNESCO World Book Capital for 2019.
Alyazeyah Al Marri
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
+971 (0)6 5444113
Ahaad Alamoudi, WHAT IS THIS?! (still), 2019. Image courtesy of the artist