Fragility and Resilience

Ishara Art Foundation is currently showcasing ‘Fragility and Resilience’, the first comprehensive solo exhibition in the GCC by artist Ayesha Sultana, running until 7 December 2024 at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai. The exhibition explores the delicate interplay between vulnerability and strength, reflecting on the fragility of our world in the 21st century. Sultana challenges the conventional separation of fragility and resilience, suggesting that vulnerability can hold strength within itself.

Ayesha Sultana, Inhabiting Our Bodies (2024). Watercolour on Japanese silk tissue, 76.2 x 60.96 cm. Image courtesy of the artist

The exhibition features a range of works, including newly created oil paintings and watercolours on Japanese silk and clay-coated paper, along with the debut of Sultana’s hand-blown glass sculptures. Visitors are also given a rare insight into her creative process through sketchbooks, diaries and in-progress works. Divided into three sections, ‘Fragility and Resilience’ guides visitors through a journey of contemplation and discovery. Highlights include Sultana’s ‘Breath Count’ series, where marks on clay-coated paper mirror the artist’s breathing, and her ‘Threshold’ series, which commemorates her father through altered photographs from their travels. The exhibition ultimately embodies the tension between the fragile and the resilient, encouraging viewers to reflect on the balance between these forces in art, life and the environment.