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.
About Tashkeel
Tashkeel is an incubator of visual art & design and a commercial consultancy rooted in the United Arab Emirates. Established in Dubai in 2008 by Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Tashkeel’s facilities enable production, experimentation and discourse. Its annual programme of training, residencies, workshops, talks, exhibitions, international collaborations and publications aims to further practitioner development, public engagement and lifelong learning. And its commercial services seek to embed UAE-made art and design in the very fabric of society and the economy. By nurturing the growth of contemporary art and design, Tashkeel seeks to empower the country’s ever growing creative and cultural industries.
Tashkeel’s commercial services include Consultancy, ranging from advisory, sales, design and production services and special projects for a wide range of clients; Training, the development and delivery of art-based learning for the education, cultural, public and private sectors; Membership, providing comprehensive access for the creative community to facilities and studios to research, experiment, make and collaborate; and Printing & Cutting Services of laser-cutting, fine art/photography & risograph printing; and Retail, selling UAE-made art and design products instore and online as well as across a nationwide network of partners.
Tashkeel’s incubator initiatives include: Tanween, which takes a cohort of UAE-based designers through a one-year skills development programme, taking a product inspired by the UAE from concept to completion; Critical Practice, which invites visual artists to embark on a one-year skills development programme of studio practice, mentorship and training, culminating in a major solo presentation; Residencies at Tashkeel or abroad, ranging in duration and often in partnership with international partners; Make Works UAE, an online platform connecting creatives and fabricators to enable designers and artists accurate and efficient access to the UAE manufacturing sector; Exhibitions & Fairs to highlight innovation and excellence, growing audience for art & design in the UAE.
More details are available at https://tashkeel.org/exhibitions/i-kept-holding.
