Asma Belhamar
Asma Belhamar’s interdisciplinary practice explores the phenomenon of the megastructure in the Emirates and its impact on the topographical memory of local landscapes. Through installation, experimental print, video and three-dimensional modelling, she synthesises the architectural and the organic to construct hybrid spaces that engage with notions of temporality and spatial memory. Her practice is driven by a desire to illustrate the effect that various architectural trends have had on perceptions of the Emirates both locally and globally.
Asma Belhamar, Souq alras street #5 (detail), 2023
Born in 1988 in Dubai, UAE, Asma Belhamar holds a BA in Visual Arts from Zayed University, Dubai (2012), and an MFA in Textile Design from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (2017). She completed the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship, in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design, in Abu Dhabi in 2014. In 2019, she was an artist-in-residence at both the March Project at Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE, and Porthmeor Studios, St Ives, UK. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Delfina Foundation, London.
Public commissioned works include: Thresholds of Perception: Redefining Balcony Spaces, Public Art Commission for Alserkal Arts Foundation, Dubai, UAE (2024); Union of Artists, together with four other artists commissioned by Dubai Culture in collaboration with Art Dubai (2024); Chasing the Dance of Alfay, Public Art Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2023); Distorted Familiarities for Expo 2020, Dubai (2021) and The Edifice of Sba at March Project, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE in 2019.
Solo exhibition include: When the Window Refused to Fly, and the Arch Decided to Hold the Sky, curated by Duygu Demir, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2026); and Solid Void, at 421, Abu Dhabi (2023). Selected group exhibitions include: Siraj, Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah, UAE (2025); Maknana: An Archaeology of New Media Art in the Arab World, Diriyah Art Futures, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2025); Guest Relations, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE (2023); Time & Identity, Al Safa Art and Design Library, Dubai, UAE (2023); Evaporating Suns: Contemporary Myths of the Arabian Gulf, Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger, Basel, Switzerland (2023); Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (SB15), Sharjah, UAE (2023); Tales of Nostalgia, Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, KSA (2022); Disconnect & Reconnect, Part Two, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Disconnect & Reconnect, Part One, Etihad Modern Art Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Between The Sky and The Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE, Middle Eastern Institute, Washington, DC (2021); Playing Spaces, Engage 101, Dubai, UAE (2020); Emerge III: Converging Lines, Sestiere Dorsoduro 47, Venice, Italy (2019); UAE & Greece Cultural Week, Zappeion Exhibition Hall, Athens, Greece (2018); Place Memory Time, 1stDIBS Gallery, New York, NY (2017); Art: Process & Practice, Salama Bint Hamdan Emerging Artist Fellowship Program, Warehouse421 Abu Dhabi, UAE (2016); and Markers & Makers, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2016) amongst others.
Based in Dubai, Belhamar also works as an Assistant Professor at Zayed University - Dubai.
Emirati artist Asma Belhamar is leaving her mark on the UAE.
A conversation between Asma Belhamar and Saira Malik about the artist's solo exhibition Solid Void.
Asma Belhamar seeks to highlight the balustrade’s South Asian origins, and honor the impact that migrant labor has had on Emirati culture.
An interdisciplinary artist whose practice frequently confronts the visual memory of local landscapes, Asma Belhamar has used this anchoring theme to merge architectural and organic elements to inform her practice.
Asma Belhamar featured in Contemporary Identities' latest issue.
Artists Afra Al Dhaheri and Asma Belhamar in Union of Artists, commissioned by Dubai Culture in collaboration with Art Dubai, the first permanent large-scale public sculpture of the Dubai Public Art Initiative.
