Dubai’s Lawrie Shabibi gallery - one of the foremost in the country’s contemporary art scene - returns to Frieze Masters in London’s Regent’s Park this week with a solo presentation of Maliheh Afnan organised in conjunction with the artist’s estate.

Afnan, who passed away in London in 2016, was born in Haifa, Palestine to a family of Persian descent, She lived and worked in the Middle East, Europe, the United States, and the UK, turning her experience of displacement and exile into a practice which explored memory and place, and the traces left by personal and collective histories.

Working across painting, drawing, and mixed media, her distinctive visual language of layers of text, calligraphic forms, fragmented figures, and worn surfaces evokes the passage of time and the instability of memory. The booth will highlight her practice from the 1970s to the 1990s, including rare work from the 1970s.

“the presentation marks the gallery’s first dedicated presentation of Afnan’s work since 2016 and
comes at a moment of renewed institutional attention to her practice” - Asmaa Al-Shabibi

Frieze Masters runs 14-18 October 2026, the gallery is presenting in the Spotlight section, booth S22