Juliet Makhlouf: Ancestry
Forthcoming exhibition
Overview
Oblong Contemporary Art Gallery is pleased to present Ancestry, a new exhibition by Juliet Makhlouf, featuring over thirty new paintings that reflect the artist’s sustained engagement with memory, ancestry, and shared cultural heritage.
Born in Syria in 1957, Juliet Makhlouf is a Syrian artist currently based in Dubai. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Graphic Department, at the University of Damascus in 1981, marking the beginning of a long and sustained artistic career. Alongside her studio practice, Makhlouf has worked extensively as an art educator in Syria, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, contributing significantly to arts education across the region.
Her work has been included in numerous prominent exhibitions, including several editions of the General Exhibition of Fine Arts in Sharjah between 1990 and 1995, and the group exhibition Eye of All Colors at the Alliance Française in 1996. Her solo exhibitions span Dubai, Sharjah, Damascus, and Madrid, including the internationally recognized En El Paraíso Imposible at the Arabic-Syrian Cultural Center in Madrid. In 2015, she presented her first solo exhibition in Dubai, revealing a shift toward geometric abstraction and optical structures.
Within Ancestry, Makhlouf approaches ancestry not as a distant past, but as a living presence. To admire one’s ancestors is to pay tribute to their enduring contributions—legacies that can never be erased. Despite the destruction that has marked both ancient and contemporary histories, the works that have survived remain imbued with beauty, meaning, and human depth. Their stories and influence have crossed all borders, extending to humanity as a whole. Traces of these civilizations endure in clay tablets that recorded systems of trade, communication, and law, as well as in foundational theological narratives, among which the Epic of Gilgamesh stands as a profound example.
The story of Syria cannot be separated from that of the wider Arab world. Across centuries, shared events have shaped common values and collective memory. Our ancestors embody this memory, along with a revolutionary contribution to faith and belief, reshaped through the messengers and philosophies that emerged from this region. Through abstraction, structure, and layered form, the exhibition invites reflection on continuity, resilience, and the enduring power of cultural memory.
We look forward to welcoming you to the grand opening on 24 January 2026, starting at 7:00 PM, at Oblong Contemporary Art Gallery, Dubai.
RSVP: info@oblongcontemporary.com
RSVP: info@oblongcontemporary.com
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