Sundara Art and Cultural Exchange and Diba Gallery  are proud to present "Finding Place: Tales of Longing and Estrangement," an exhibition featuring the works of six Lebanese artists: Hassan Jouni, Bassam Kyrillos, Magda Malkoun, Ouissam Melhem, Zeina Nader, and Fadwa Zbib. The exhibition will also showcase the collection of architectural photographer Karim Nasser entitled “In Search of the Human Scale” in the form of a dialogue with the paintings. The exhibition which runs from May 16 to May 31 in Diba Gallery at Avenue Etihad Towers Abu Dhabi invites visitors to explore the artists' contrite relationship with their homeland and their prolonged search for a sense of belonging.

Through a range of mediums and styles, the artists in "Finding Place" contemplate fragmentation as well as the physical and emotional toll of migration and displacement. Jouni and Zbib's overcrowded Lebanese houses in rich primary colours gently confront Kyrillos' disintegrated forms, whereas Nader's abstracted paintings suggest a more tender approach to the notion of home. Malkoun, an expat herself living in the UAE, provides insight into the Lebanese diaspora around her through evocative mixed-media portraits, in stark contrast with Melhem's drawings which capture vitality and movement in more subdued tones that extend outside of the personal and into the communal.

"Finding Place" offers a powerful reflection of the struggles of a larger Lebanese population, as the artists question their volatile status and wavering sense of belonging. The exhibition is a timely reminder of the importance of art in documenting and processing complex personal and political experiences. Through their diverse approaches, the artists invite us to reflect on our own relationship with home, belonging, and displacement. We hope that visitors will be moved and inspired by their work.

" The place is what is taking place. It is to be rooted in the collective unconscious in order to provide the spectator with a positive vision of the future through symbols and memory” states artist Bassam Kyrillos who will be present for the exhibition along with artists Melhem, Malkoun, Nader and Nasser."

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of events and talks, including an opening reception on May 17 under the patronage of the Lebanese Embassy in UAE. More information can be found on the official Instagram page @sundara_art_culture.