Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mubarak Al Nahayan, Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Artbooth Gallery is pleased to announce the grand opening of its new space in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on May 31, featuring our very first collective exhibition, "Salam ســـلام. "

The exhibition showcases the exquisite works of Lebanese-origin artists Lana Khayat and Walid El Masri, as well as Emirati-origin artist, Afra Al-Suwaidi.

The exhibition title "Salam," translates to "Peace" in Arabic, and the works on display place a strong emphasis on the importance of peace. Through their art, Khayat, El Masri, and Al-Suwaidi aim to channel inner peace.

For me, 'Salam' is a special greeting to all art enthusiasts in the UAE, and this exhibition is dedicated to them. “Salam ســـلام “will display a variety of artworks by each artist, including ones created exclusively for this collaboration. Visitors will be transported to a new realm where technology meets art and creativity. They know no bounds!

(Roger El-Khoury, Artbooth Founder)

The exhibition will run until July 10, 2023, and visitors can view it on the ground floor of Centro Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

Artbooth aims to provide gifted artists with unparalleled support. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work together and create something truly unique,” says Lana Khayat. “We each bring our own strengths and styles to the table, and we can’t wait to see what happens when we combine them.”

Walid El Masri adds: “There’s something special about collaborating with other artists – it’s a chance to push your boundaries and venture into new territory. I’m excited to see where this exhibition takes us.”

Afra Al-Suweidi echoes this sentiment, emphasising that “this is a chance to bring together different perspectives and create something greater than the sum of its parts. I think visitors will be amazed by what we’ve created.”

Artbooth Gallery warmly invites everyone to join them in celebrating the grand opening of their new space in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and the "Salam ســــلام "exhibition. It is an exceptional event that promises to captivate art lovers and enthusiasts alike by providing them a unique aesthetic experience.

Lana Khayat traces her artistic lineage back to her great-grandfather, Mohamad Suleiman Khayat. Growing in a family with unique artistic talent had a profound influence on Lana; it led her to develop in an exceptional artistic direction. Inspired by nature, each tone and stroke in Lana's artwork brims with significance that goes beyond the scope of human writing or language, evoking the free-flowing journey of her conversations with the wilderness.

Her art is widely exhibited and collected in New York, London, and across the Middle East. Throughout her career, she has also collaborated with leading international institutions, including the Guggenheim Museum.

Walid El Masri, Lebanese artist, explores variations in depth and space through the abstracted composition of a repeated subject. He relies on intuition as a crucial element in his artistic process and strongly believes that the motifs in his art seek him out and discover him, rather than the other way round. Walid has exhibited solo at Europia Gallery in Paris, Ayyam Gallery in London, Jeddah, Damascus and Dubai, as well as Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair, Hong Kong art fair, the Busan Museum of Art in South Korea, and Samsung Blue Square in Seoul. He is also a member of Caravan Culturelle Syrienne, which organizes cultural events across Europe.

Afra Al-Suwaidi creates multimedia installations that explore the relationship between technology and humanity, seamlessly blending virtual and physical worlds to create thought-provoking and visually stunning works of art. Her work is influenced by the conversation of giving and taking and adding and subtracting, which is expressed through plaster. Her research essentially challenges the human condition in terms of its behavior and responses. She seeks out, unravels, and sometimes buries and conceals these thoughts.

Afra's work has been exhibited at the Alliance Française Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, as well as in the 35th Annual Exhibition of the Emirates Fine Arts Society in Sharjah, UAE, and the Cultural Foundation Art Residency, Abu Dhabi. She is a recipient of the Cultural Foundation Art Residency 2020.