Part of Exhibition Openings
Ayesha Sultana's first comprehensive solo exhibition in the GCC, exploring the delicate balance between the vulnerability and strength of our planet in the 21st century.
Fragility and Resilience is an exploration of the delicate balance between the vulnerability and strength of our planet today. Challenging the conventional binaries that separate concepts of the fragile and the resilient, Sultana proposes that fragility can be a form of strength while encompassing profound vulnerability. This thematic exploration is particularly pertinent in the contemporary world as social, ecological, and personal upheavals continually test the limits of sustainability.
Featuring a diverse array of artworks that includes the first-ever unveiling of Sultana’s hand-blown glass sculptures, the exhibition presents newly made oil paintings, watercolour on Japanese silk tissue, works on clay-coated paper, and her past photographic explorations. It also offers a rare glimpse into Sultana’s creative process through the inclusion of her sketchbooks, diaries, in-progress artworks, and an unfinished video.
Fragility and Resilience is designed to guide viewers through a journey of discovery and reflection. The exhibition is divided into three sections, each gently transitioning into the other. Visitors can fully engage with the unique qualities and thematic nuances of each body of work while experiencing the show as a cohesive whole.
To enhance the visitor experience and deepen the engagement with this exhibition’s themes, Ishara Art Foundation will host a series of public programmes that include artist talks, guided tours and interactive workshops.
Artworks in this exhibition have been loaned from the collection of the Samdani Art Foundation, the collection of Prateek and Priyanka Raja, the collection of Akshay Chudasama, and the Ishara Art Foundation and the Prabhakar Collection.
The exhibition has been generously supported by Barclays Private Bank and Carl F. Bucherer.
Logistics supported by Experimenter.
About the Artist:
Ayesha Sultana (b. 1984) was born in Jashore, Bangladesh, and lives and works in Lilburn, Georgia, USA. Her practice spans drawing, painting and sculpture, exploring the material and conceptual possibilities of form and medium.
Sultana completed her Bachelors in Fine Art in 2007, and a post-graduate diploma in Art Education in 2008 from Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, where she also taught for two years. She is a member of the artist-run organisation, Britto Arts Trust in Dhaka.
Sultana has exhibited worldwide in solo and group exhibitions, including the Dhaka Art Summit (2014 and 2023); Artist’s Rooms, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (2022); Shifting the Silence, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) (2022); Making Visible, Experimenter, Mumbai (2022, 2017); Bare Bones, Experimenter, Kolkata (2021); Line, Beats and Shadows, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (2020); Art Basel (2019); the 9th
Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT9), Queensland (2018); the Lahore Biennale 01, Lahore (2018); and the 11th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju (2016).
Her work has also appeared in group exhibitions at On Site, New Delhi; Queens Museum, New York; Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai; Leila Heller Gallery, New York; and Athr Gallery, Jeddah.
Sultana’s works have been widely collected by institutions that include SFMoMA, San Francisco; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi; X Museum, Beijing; Samdani Art Foundation, Dhaka; Tate Modern, London; and the Ishara Art Foundation and Prabhakar Collection, Dubai, amongst others.