Dubai’s Lawrie Shabibi gallery, located in Alserkal Avenue, is set to host “The Butterfly’s Burden,” a solo exhibition by Egyptian artist Nada Elkalaawy. Running from September 23 through November, the show draws its title from the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, reflecting a thematic focus on the delicate balance between beauty, emotional weight, and human sensitivity.
Elkalaawy’s creative process centers on the interplay between memory and its visual representation. She utilizes a personal archive of family photographs, auction catalogues, and found imagery to construct complex compositions. By employing collage and painterly techniques, she strips these fragments from their original contexts, reassembling them into new, layered narratives. These paintings do not serve as literal depictions of specific events but rather as environments where collective and personal histories intersect across different timelines.
The artist’s methodology relies heavily on drawing, with most works originating from charcoal and graphite sketches. This foundation allows for rapid tonal shifts before the image is further developed through paint. A signature element of her work is the use of “pentimento” and veiling, where layers of translucent paint are applied to obscure or reveal forms. By reworking older canvases and unfinished pieces, she embeds past gestures beneath the surface, creating a palimpsest that mirrors the unstable, shifting nature of human memory.
Within these compositions, ghostly figures often emerge at the periphery of the viewer’s vision, suggesting memories that refuse to fade. These figures are accompanied by recurring motifs such as domestic vessels, porcelain figurines, urns, textiles, and flowers. While flowers serve as symbols of mourning, regeneration, and beauty, the household objects act as repositories for human presence and ritual. The artist complicates these scenes with shadows, reflections, and glares, which disrupt the stability of the imagery and introduce an ambiguity between what is clearly visible and what remains concealed.
The repetition of these subjects across various scales and contexts further challenges the viewer’s perception. By placing familiar objects in new configurations, Elkalaawy forces a reinterpretation of their meaning, blurring the lines between fact and fiction. The exhibition itself was born from the artist’s recent experiences with grief and loss, yet it remains anchored in a sense of hope. The butterfly, a central motif, represents both the fleeting nature of life and the “burden” of carrying forward memories that must not be forgotten.
Ultimately, the exhibition explores a series of dualities: life and death, happiness and sadness, and vulnerability and resilience. Through her process of constant remaking and layering, Elkalaawy seeks to create a space where absence and presence remain in dialogue, inviting viewers to consider their own place in the world. The works aim to evoke universal human experiences, including loneliness, togetherness, and the enduring search for connection.
Lawrie Shabibi continues its mission of supporting emerging contemporary artists from the Middle East and North Africa, while also organizing historical exhibitions for established regional figures. By collaborating with curators, museums, and collectors, the gallery acts as a bridge between Middle Eastern talent and the international art community. Through its consistent program of exhibitions, talks, and publications, the gallery remains a key driver in the development of Dubai’s contemporary art scene.
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