Rituals of Becoming by Salmah Almansoori

Natural fiber sculptures on styrofoam and metal structures
Public art installation commissioned by Abu Dhabi Art
On view at Al Ain Oasis until April 2026

 

Rituals of Becoming is a major public installation by Abu Dhabi–based multidisciplinary artist Salmah Almansoori, created for the historic Al Ain Oasis as part of Abu Dhabi Art’s public art program. Rooted in transformation, continuity, and hope, the project reflects on what has been inherited, what is actively interpreted, and what may be passed forward to future generations.

 

Each sculpture follows a triadic logic that guides Almansoori’s research and making:
What was left behind by those before us?
What do I understand through material and process?
What might endure after us?

 

Through this framework, hybrid forms take shape — part memory, part speculation. These objects can be read as ritual tools, vessels, or remnants of a fictional archaeology. The oasis becomes a speculative site where lived heritage converges with imagined futures. Though sealed for durability, the sculptures respond to the environment over time, shifting like artifacts gradually reclaimed by the land.

 

The project extends across two locations, creating an experiential cycle of memory, preservation, speculation, and transformation. Presented indoors at Manarat Al Saadiyat, the work holds memory in intimate, fragile gestures. Outdoors at Al Ain Oasis, the installation expands into a collective encounter shaped by climate, landscape, and community. Both sites draw from the survival practices and terrain of Ghayathi, the artist’s hometown, forming a shared ecosystem of thought that links personal remembrance with cultural memory.

 

Almansoori’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, and site specific installations. Her work consistently explores the intersections of place, memory, and identity, revealing how landscapes hold histories and how materials become vessels for both ancestral knowledge and imagined futures.