I Kept The Night Vigil: A Profound Exploration of Women’s Voices Across and Beyond the Middle East
Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai | 18 September – 4 November 2024
This autumn, Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai unveils ‘…I Kept The Night Vigil…’, a powerful and deeply resonant exhibition curated by Iranian artist and academic Behrang Samadzadegan. Running from 18 September to 4 November 2024, the exhibition gathers a collective of formidable female artists from across and beyond the Middle East, presenting a layered dialogue around memory, resistance, resilience, and cultural legacy through a uniquely feminine lens.
At the heart of the exhibition is the poetic and philosophical inspiration drawn from al-Khansa, a 7th-century poetess whose evocative verse transcends centuries. Renowned for her poignant meditations on grief and personal loss, al-Khansa has long stood as a beacon of emotional strength and artistic eloquence. Her poetry forms the symbolic and conceptual backbone of this exhibition, with the title “I Kept the Night Vigil” acting as a poetic invocation of introspection, endurance, and quiet rebellion.
A Feminine Vigil: Holding Space Through Art
The idea of the “night vigil” operates on multiple metaphorical levels throughout the exhibition. As a conceptual anchor, it evokes a state of watchfulness, reflection, and quiet contemplation—a time when transformation often occurs in silence. For many women in the Middle East, such moments of introspection are both deeply personal and inherently political. In ‘I Kept The Night Vigil’, these vigil-keepers are artists: voices that resist marginalisation, bridge tradition and innovation, and offer profound insights into both individual and collective experiences.
Curator Behrang Samadzadegan brings together a dynamic group of artists whose practices span diverse media—from sculpture and installation to film, photography, and mixed media. Collectively, they challenge prevailing narratives and invite viewers into spaces of layered meaning, weaving personal memory, regional identity, and global consciousness into their work.
Reclaiming Narrative: Female Artists from the Middle East and Beyond
Participating artists include a powerful mix of established and emerging figures such as Shirin Neshat, Zeinab Alhashemi, Katya Traboulsi, Parinaz Eleish, Naeemeh Kazemi, and Soraya Sharghi, alongside creators such as Azza Al Qubaisi, Shiva Ahmadi, Melis Buyruk, Maxi Cohen, and Farideh Lashai.
Each artist contributes to an overarching narrative that speaks not only to the complexities of life in the Middle East but to broader global themes such as war, displacement, environmental crisis, and gendered identity. Their works range from the tactile and ornamental to the starkly conceptual, creating a multi-sensory journey for viewers that is as emotionally charged as it is intellectually engaging.
Shirin Neshat, celebrated globally for her exploration of exile, identity, and the female experience in Iran, presents powerful imagery that oscillates between intimacy and political urgency.
Zeinab Alhashemi’s sculptural works explore the urban and architectural shifts of the UAE, reflecting on heritage and modernity.
Shiva Ahmadi creates jewel-toned narratives rich in symbolism, drawing attention to social and political injustices through a language of beauty and allegory.
Azza Al Qubaisi, often referred to as the UAE’s first Emirati jewellery artist, contributes works that blur the boundaries between fine art and craft, offering tactile meditations on nature, heritage, and identity.
Through these distinct yet interconnected practices, the exhibition becomes a vessel of feminine expression—bold, nuanced, and unwavering in its commitment to truth.
Memory as Material, Silence as Resistance
In a region where women’s histories have often been silenced or simplified, ‘I Kept the Night Vigil’ makes visible the depth and diversity of women’s experiences. Many works in the exhibition are autobiographical or grounded in oral histories, but they are far from sentimental. Instead, they function as acts of cultural preservation and quiet defiance, reminding us that memory is not static but living, evolving, and capable of shaping future narratives.
Several artists, such as Pariyoush Ganji and Shideh Fatemi, use abstraction and calligraphy to reference ancient visual languages, reinterpreting them through a contemporary lens. Others, like Areen Hassan and Stephany Sanossian, explore the intimate and domestic through photography and sculpture, often centring the female body as both a site of vulnerability and strength.
The works of Maryam Lamei, Ana D’Castro, and Nikki Zarrabi delve into emotional and psychological states, offering deeply introspective pieces that articulate the unspoken or the unseen. In this sense, silence in the exhibition becomes a medium of its own, conveying what language often cannot.
Beyond Borders: A Global Feminist Dialogue
While grounded in the Middle Eastern context, the exhibition reaches beyond geographic boundaries. Many of the featured artists live and work in diasporic contexts, navigating dual identities and cross-cultural tensions. Their perspectives are shaped by displacement, hybridity, and a sense of in-betweenness, lending the exhibition a global resonance that aligns with contemporary feminist discourses worldwide.
Artists like Maxi Cohen, Melis Buyruk, and Shan Castellino add further depth to this transnational perspective, showing that the concerns of women—whether related to environment, trauma, spirituality, or social justice—resonate far beyond regional confines.
A Curatorial Vision Rooted in Reflection and Change
Curator Behrang Samadzadegan, himself a prolific artist and theorist, approaches the exhibition with sensitivity and critical insight. His curatorial framework honours the poetic, the personal, and the political, offering a space where vulnerability is not only accepted but elevated. By anchoring the exhibition in the words of al-Khansa and focusing on the metaphor of the night vigil, Samadzadegan creates a curatorial model that privileges listening, reflection, and the potential for renewal.
This exhibition is not a survey—it is a vigil. It is not just an art show—it is a collective act of remembrance and resistance.
A Must-See Exhibition in Dubai’s Autumn Art Calendar
As Dubai continues to evolve into a major global art hub, ‘…I Kept The Night Vigil…’ is a vital addition to its cultural calendar. It is both timely and timeless, a meditation on the past that speaks powerfully to the present. For collectors, curators, scholars, and art lovers interested in contemporary Middle Eastern art, feminist art practices, and global visual culture, this exhibition is an unmissable experience.
Set against the backdrop of Leila Heller Gallery—a space renowned for its commitment to showcasing cutting-edge contemporary art from the Middle East and beyond—this exhibition promises to be one of the season’s most important cultural offerings.
Exhibition Details
‘…I Kept The Night Vigil…’
Curated by Behrang Samadzadegan
📍 Leila Heller Gallery, Dubai
🗓 18 September – 4 November 2024
🎟 Free Entry
Featured Artists:
Azza Al Qubaisi, Zeinab Alhashemi, Parinaz Eleish, Ana D’Castro, Shirin Neshat, Melis Buyruk, Naeemeh Kazemi, Katya Traboulsi, Maxi Cohen, Maryam Lamei, Farideh Lashai, Nikki Zarrabi, Areen Hassan, Soraya Sharghi, Stephany Sanossian, Pariyoush Ganji, Shideh Fatemi, Shan Castellino, Azita Panahpour, Shiva Ahmadi
