Adel Abidin (b. 1973, Iraq; lives and works in Helsinki, Finland)

They Were Here (2024)

They Were Here is a multimedia installation that explores how the persistent tension between war and peace shapes identity across generations, using Iraq as a point of departure. The work references the Standard of Ur, a Sumerian artifact from the 3rd millennium BC inlaid with mosaics depicting two opposing states: war and peace. The artist produced Abandoned Relic, which is a one-to-one replica of this ancient artifact, reimagined as a deserted object. Placed on a large table covered with clay and sand, it carries only the faint traces of the figures that once moved across it. The table suggests the passage of time, while the emptied object proposes a hypothesis: that if the Sumerians were living today, they too would have chosen to abandon their civilization and flee. The missing figures reappear elsewhere in the installation. Small sculpted bodies drift away from the relic across the surface of the table, which is inscribed with the traces of their passage. Above plays Unfitted, a video work that follows a tailor measuring the fleeing figurines. His careful, repetitive gestures mirror the quiet labor of adaptation — altering the body, adjusting appearance, reshaping identity in order to blend into new surroundings. The tailor’s miniature garment templates are physicalized as tiny paper cut-outs, mounted on aluminum sheets and enclosed within acrylic box frames, in Patterns. These fragile forms reveal identity as provisional and continually reassembled.

Adel Abidin is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores history, identity, politics, conflict, and collective memory through irony and subtle humor. Born in Baghdad, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad and later earned an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. Abidin has represented Finland at the Venice Biennale (2007) and participated in major international biennials and museum exhibitions worldwide. Selected solo shows include HKW. Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2022), MAXXI, Rome (2018), BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (2017), KIASMA. Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (2015), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (2014). His works are held in leading public collections, including Kiasma, the Finnish National Gallery, Mathaf, Ithra, and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

NIKA Project Space, opened in 2023 in Dubai, is a platform for artistic discourse and experimentation, championing the work of female artists and curators. The gallery presents exhibitions focused on conceptualization, abstraction, and philosophical inquiry, alongside a critically engaged program that includes talks, performances, and educational initiatives. Additionally, it hosts a research program inviting artists to create experimental works, exploring societal experiences and historical narratives. With a focus on artists from the Global South and underrepresented regions, NIKA Project Space fosters the artistic inquiry of emerging and established practitioners.
In 2024, NIKA Project Space inaugurated a European location in the Komunuma art district in Romainville, on the outskirts of Paris. In Dubai, the gallery is located in Al Khayat Avenue, Al Quoz.