Dubai, UAE – January 13, 2025: Tashkeel, a leading UAE-based art and design incubator, presents 'I Kept Holding,' an immersive, multiform exhibition by Maitha Hamdan, an Emirati artist and a graduate of the Critical Practice Programme.

As part of Tashkeel's 2025 Winter Season, this exhibition is Hamdan's eighth in the UAE and marks the culmination of her Tashkeel Critical Practice Programme (CPP) journey.

A showcase of Hamdan's multidisciplinary talent, the exhibition deftly interweaves

performance, installation, and videography to examine the complexities of the human experience and the societal constraints imposed on women globally – along with the emotional and psychological toll of these limitations.

The exhibition also explores the intersections between colour, material, and societal norms, drawing on the visceral power of wax, with its transformative nature, and the colour red – which is so often associated with complex but opposing emotions and ideas including passion, love, vitality, blood, war, and negativity. Combined with the poignant stories of female endurance, these elements aim to provoke, unsettle, and inspire reflection on how people can define, confine, and ultimately liberate themselves from societal boundaries.

Hamdan, a graduate fellow of the prestigious Salama Emerging Artists Fellowship Programme (SEAF Cohort 7) by the Sheikha Salama Bint Hamdan Foundation, has participated in significant initiatives such as the Azyami Programme by Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council in 2019. Hamdan was also a resident artist in the Cultural Foundation Art Residency Program in 2021 and is currently a member of the 2023 Critical Practice Program at Tashkeel, Dubai.

Commenting on the exhibition, Hamdan said, 'My aim with 'I Kept Holding' is to evoke emotions and introspection in those who view and engage with my art. I hope that viewers will look inward and question why the art has made them feel a certain way, stirring a heightened level of thought and awareness about women in society. Tashkeel has provided a valuable, open platform, giving me the creative freedom to explore and express emotions and ideas that are usually buried beneath the surface of our lives and wider cultures. I look forward to seeing people's reactions and engaging with visitors at the exhibition.'  

In addition to artist-led tours of the exhibition, visitors are invited to experience the captivating process of wax art at a three-hour workshop titled 'Ephemeral Elegance: Crafting Art with Melted Wax' on Sunday February 9, from 2 pm to 5 pm at FN Designs at Tashkeel, FN Designs, Alserkal Avenue.

Dates: January 7 – February 21, 2025, Sun-Thu 10am – 7pm, Fri 9am–12pm

Location: Tashkeel at FN Designs, Alserkal Avenue (Warehouse 26)

Artist-led public tours: Sunday January 19 and Sunday February 16, 12-1pm