Working primarily in painting and video, Aliyah Alawadhi's practice explores girlhood, adolescence, the body, and femininity, often drawing from speculative fiction, internet culture, and alternate realities.
Aliyah AlAwadhi (b.1996, UAE) is an artist, writer, and curator based in Abu Dhabi. She received her BFA in Animation Design with a Minor in Curatorial Practices from Zayed University in 2020. She was an editor and member of the Banat Collective, a grassroots project aimed at representing femme-centered artistry in the MENA region and was a chosen member of the 2020 Youth Assembly courtesy of Art Jameel, culminating in the Youth Takeover event hosted by the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai. She was also one of the participating artists for the 101 initiative's inaugural sale, "Outside In, Inside Out" (2020) at Bait 15 curated by Munira Al Sayegh and Ghaith Abdulla, to promote non-gallery represented artists. She was also a fellow in the 8th cohort of the Salama Bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design. She has appeared in several exhibitions locally and internationally, including "This lark sips at every pond" (2021) at Maisan15 in Dubai, "Ybna Al3eid" (2022) at Bayt Al Mamzar in Dubai and the inaugural Banat Collective-curated exhibition “As We Gaze Upon Her” (2021-22) at Warehouse 421 as well as “East-East Vol. 4: The Curio Shop” (2021) held at HB Nezu in Tokyo and “Boundless/Binding” (2024) curated by Emergeast and shown at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles, USA.