The Fifth Wife explored the ways mythology, folklore, and inherited cultural narratives continue to shape contemporary identity across the MENA region. Bringing together artists from diverse backgrounds, the exhibition examined how collective stories evolve through migration, memory, religion, gender, and social structures, positioning mythology as something fluid rather than fixed in the past.
Curated by Ali Cha'aban, Celine Azem, and Mara Firetti, the exhibition used the symbolic figure of the “fifth wife” as a conceptual framework through which artists reflected on power, femininity, ritual, belonging, and psychological inheritance. Through painting, sculpture, installation, and mixed media, the works moved between personal narratives and broader cultural archetypes.
The exhibition highlighted how myths are continuously rewritten by contemporary realities, revealing the tensions between tradition and modernity, visibility and erasure, memory and reinvention. By bringing together layered visual languages and regional perspectives, The Fifth Wife positioned contemporary art as a space for re-examining collective identity and the narratives that shape cultural consciousness.
