Artist Statement 
My steps become heavy as I maneuver through my circles engaging in realties around me. I take note of words in my periphery. They stay in my mouth, swishing around my tongue. I spit some and sallow others. I am told I am bold for adorning myself with color. I contemplate this—it is an essence of my lightness countering the day. My work is an extension of this notetaking. Ideas that stay in my mouth find a way out through a pen, a brush, a movement.
Biography
Fatema Al Fardan is an interdisciplinary artist based in Abu Dhabi. She currently explores the intersections between public/private, fiction/biography, hierarchy/resistance and absurd/quotidian. Al Fardan was selected for the Artist Residency program at the Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi (2022-23), the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (2021-22) and the Warehouse421 x Gulf Photo Plus Artistic Development Program (2020-21). Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally. Al Fardan likes to hear stories more than she likes to tell them.
Vocational Development and Residences
Kawader Research Fellowship
Jun 2022 - Jul 2025
Cultural Foundation Art Residency
Jul 2022 - Mar 2023
Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship (SEAF)
Mar 2021 - Jan 2022
Warehouse421 x Gulf Photo Plus Artistic Development Program
Feb 2020 - Feb 2021
Exhibitions
A Return to the Ground عودةٌ إلى الجذور ルーツへの回帰
2023 - Group Exhibition - Curated by Dirwaza Curatorial Lab - Tokyo - Japan
Hathee Ana هذه أنا
2023 - Group Exhibition - Curated by Khaleeji Art Museum - Women's Pavilion, Expo City - Dubai
Evaporating Suns: Contemporary Myths from the Arabian Gulf شموس متبخرة
2023 - Group Exhibition - Curated by Dirwaza Curatorial Lab - Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger - Basel - Switzerland
I, View
2023 - Group Exhibition - Curated by Alya Alawadhi and Vivi Zhu - Manarat Al Saadiyat - Abu Dhabi 
50 Years of Cool ٥٠ عاماً من التبريد
2023 - Group Exhibition - MiZa - Abu Dhabi
Hekayah | The Story
2022 - Performance - The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi
Our Time, Even in Dreams حاضرنا كما في الأحلام Notre temps, même en rêves
2022 - Contemporary Art Festival - Curated by Karim Sultan - Billboard & Avenue Habib Bourguiba - Jaou Tunis - Tunis
Al Raheel | Departure
2022 - Projection - Contemporary Performance - The Arts Center - Abu Dhabi
While the Coffee Grounds Settle: Stories from Women in the UAE
2022 - Group exhibition - Curated by Dirwaza Curatorial Lab - Fathom Gallery - Washington DC - USA
EYE/VIEW x REX Box III 
2022 - Group Exhibition - Curated by Gyo Yoon - Kino REX Bern - Bern - Switzerland 
EYE – VIEW
2022 - Group exhibition - e-billboard, Congress Center Basel - Basel - Switzerland
Mina Zayed: Reflections on Past Futures
2021 - Group exhibition - Warehouse421 - Abu Dhabi
In Response to Solastalgia
2021 - Group exhibition - Curated by Anna Bernice - Maisan15 - Dubai
Emirati Womanhood
2021 - Group exhibition - Khaleeji Art Museum - Dubai
Art in Isolation: Creativity in the Time of Covid-19
2020/21 - Group exhibition - Curated by Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah - The MEI's Art Gallery - Washington DC - USA
The Let Out II
2020 - Virtual Album - Presented by  ILL DOOTS - USA
Al Raheel | Departure
2020 - Projection Designer - Contemporary theater - The Arts Center - Abu Dhabi
between the three of us
2020 - Solo thesis exhibition - Online
Live Video Performance
2019 - Group exhibition - Made in NY Media Center - New York City - USA
grantS
Art Jameel and Dubai Culture in association with Al Quoz Creative Zone
Research and Practice Platform , Grant Recipient, Jul 2024
Publications
Deconstructing Um Al Khathar wa Al Leaf, Evaporating Suns exhibition catalogue, 2023. Essay. Co-authored with Zuhoor Al Sayegh.
Guidebook to Pandemia, Heavy Feather Review, Zachary Doss Friends in Letters Memorial Fellowship, 2020, Winner. Visual poetry.
Her Sunny Disposition, Airpot Road, 2019. Photograph.
A Manifesto, Airport Road, 2018. Poetry.
Facilitating & Speaking
Um Alkhathar wa Al Leaf, The Research Room: 2 day workshop, 2024, Public Programs by Diriyah Biennale Foundation, Riyadh
Sensory Explorations Trip: Neon Light Photo Tour, Photo Walk, 2023, Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi
Critical Response Process, Workshop, 2023, The Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship, Abu Dhabi
List it Out: An Experimental Writing Workshop صناعة القائمة: ورشة كتابة تجريبية, Workshop, 421, Abu Dhabi
Photos of Home, Workshop, 2021, Gulf Photo Plus x Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
#24images24hours, Instagram Takeover, Gulf Photo Plus
Critical Response Process, Workshop, 2021, SEAF, Abu Dhabi
Reflections on Institutions and Critique: The Case of Mina Zayed, Podcast, 2021, Warehouse421
PRESS