Washwasha

The Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates at the Biennale Arte 2026 opens its doors with Washwasha, curated by Bana Kattan with Assistant Curator Tala Nassar.

A phonetic transliteration of the Arabic word for whispering, washwasha suggests sound at the threshold of audibility. It refers not only to hushed speech, but also to subtle forms of communication, to murmurs, background noise, and intangible traces that risk going unnoticed. While the artists in Washwasha – Mays Albaik, Jawad Al Malhi, Farah Al Qasimi, Alaa Edris, Lamya Gargash, and Taus Makhacheva – work across different media and concerns, certain affinities begin to surface, often not in explicit themes, but in the spaces between them: in attention to sound, to circulation, and to what is sensed or implied rather than fully articulated.

The works, both existing and newly commissioned, come together to embody intangible histories and lived conditions that exceed the frameworks of the nation-state. Artists working in the UAE are shaped by migration, movement, arrival, and transience; conditions that are structurally produced and unevenly experienced, an encounter that is not a marginal phenomenon. Some pass through briefly; others remain for years, forming long-term relationships with place, while a few others have lengthy ties to land. What brings them together is not a shared origin, but a shared moment of presence. They are here, producing work and exchanging ideas within overlapping temporalities, and collectively reflecting the rhythms and dissonances of life in the UAE today.

Designed by Büro Koray Duman (B–KD) Architects, the exhibition space guides visitors from zones of quiet, close listening to areas consumed by noise and sonic overlap. The spatial narrative moves from oral histories and storytelling to language and communication, and finally to technology and hyper-connectivity. Alongside the exhibition is a program activation inspired by veteran broadcaster Salem Obaid Alaleeli and the 1961 founding of Ajman Radio, featuring contemporary sonic contributions by Moza Almatrooshi (ballad), Roudhah AlMazrouei, and Spencer Shea.

Within the exhibition, Jawad Al Malhi presents Naiman (2008/2026), featuring recordings of men recalling the celebratory rituals performed on the eve of their weddings. In Kūnī Kai Akūna Kamā Aqūl! (Be, so that I may be as I say!) (2026), Mays Albaik presents two sets of glass sculptures casting the inside of her mouth at the very moment she attempts to speak, inviting consideration of what is lost in the attempted preservation of oral histories. In her photographic series Majlis (2009), artist Lamya Gargash positions the majlis as a sonic gathering space that facilitates the social practice of hosting, listening, celebrating, grieving, and solving problems. In Farah Al Qasimi’s multimedia installation The Curse (2026), the artist explores children’s cursory understanding of guilt, alongside historical and contemporary ways people navigate communication barriers.

Alaa Edris approaches washwasha through the lens of her Emirati colloquial dialect, in which the term signifies tashwīsh (interference or confusion). Her multimedia installation Wiswās (2026) reflects on the mechanization and noise of contemporary life. In parallel, Taus Makhacheva’s Dear R., R., K., S., M., A., C., S., K., I., G., L., A., A., L., P., G., E., J., D., M., C., B., O., F., F., R., D., M., E., L., I., F., L., A., M., T., K., K., L., P., F., V., A., L., L. (2018/2026) comprises a sound installation that humorously reflects on a hyper-connected world in which a demand for constant communication produces exhaustion, apology, and failure. In a second work, And What Did You Say? (2026), Makhacheva approaches gossip with an inquisitiveness on its potentiality. Through a performance and installation, she ruminates over the idea of "metabolizing gossip," thus turning it into movement and speech. Makhacheva’s performance will take place in July 2026 (further details to be announced).

The National Pavilion UAE is commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the UAE Ministry of Culture.

For press enquiries, please contact Florian Vanicatte at florian@sendreceive.eu and press@nationalpavilionuae.org.    

About the National Pavilion UAE – La Biennale di Venezia 
The National Pavilion UAE is an award-winning pavilion that curates untold stories about the UAE’s arts and architecture through its participation in the International Art and Architecture Exhibitions organized by La Biennale di Venezia.

In parallel with its exhibitions in Venice, the National Pavilion UAE engages with communities in the UAE to support the growth of the local cultural and creative industries, through public programming, professional opportunities and the Venice Internship program it offers.

The National Pavilion UAE is an independent non-profit organization, commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the UAE Ministry of Culture.  

About Bana Kattan
(b. 1986, Abu Dhabi, UAE; lives and works in New York, US)
Bana Kattan is Curator and Associate Head of Exhibitions at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project and has been appointed curator of the National Pavilion UAE at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2026. Previously, she served as Associate Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and Curator at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery. Her recent projects include solo exhibitions with Wafaa Bilal (2025), Maryam Taghavi (2024), and Mona Hatoum (2023). Kattan holds an MA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a recipient of the Barjeel Global Fellowship and Getty-CAA International Program Grants.  

About Tala Nassar
(b. 1997, Amman, Jordan; lives and works in Boston, US)
Tala Nassar is a curator and researcher whose work focuses on modern and contemporary Arab art. She currently works at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, US. Nassar holds an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Art and Art History from New York University Abu Dhabi. She was the inaugural David Webb Museum Fellow at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, where she later served as Associate Manager of Curatorial Projects. She served as Assistant Curator for Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula at the NYUAD Art Gallery (2022); as well as Curatorial Research Assistant for Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset for the National Pavilion UAE at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2022), and Artists and the Cultural Foundation: The Early Years at the Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi (2018).