The Third Line

Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige’s (Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige) site-specific installation is currently at Site archéologique Saint-Antoine (SaSA) (SaSA). The artists were invited by MAMCO Genève (mamco_geneve) to create the installation in celebration of the opening of SaSA Genève.

On view until 15 November 2026
📍Site archéologique Saint-Antoine (SaSA), Geneva, Switzerland

The installation brings together Hadjithomas & Khalil’s archaeology-related works—Palimpsests, Time Capsules, and Trilogies—which draw on collaborations with rescue archaeologists and geological methods to surface the buried remains of cities and the layered vertigo of deep time.

Tap the link in our bio for more information.
––––––––––

Rana Begum (Rana Begum) joins Frauke V. Josenhans at the Ismaili Center, Houston (Ismaili Center, Houston), where her new site-specific commission, ‘No. 1573 Reflectors,’ is now .

🗓 2 October 2026, 6:00 p.m. CDT
📍 Ismaili Center, Houston, USA

Commissioned for the Ismaili Center’s permanent art collection, ‘No. 1573 Reflectors’ now lives in the building’s East Atrium. Like much of Begum’s practice, it draws on the urban landscape and the geometry of Islamic art and architecture, absorbing and reflecting light in shifting densities so that the work changes with time and the viewer’s movement.

Josenhans, deputy director and chief curator at the Dora Maar Cultural Center, previously curated Begum’s large-scale outdoor commissions No. 1187 Mesh and No. 1193 Mesh at the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University. Together, they’ll place the new work within the arc of Begum’s site-specific practice, looking at how it responds to the Ismaili Center’s architecture and Houston’s cultural landscape.

Image: Rana Begum, No. 1573 Reflectors, 2026. Installation view, East Atrium, Ismaili Center, Houston.

Tap on the link in our bio for more information.
––––––––––

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s major retrospective, ‘Tehran/New York.’ opens at Moderna Museet (Moderna Museet). Curated by Asrin Haidari (), the exhibition is organised in collaboration with Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (), Madrid, and Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Kunstmuseum Den Haag), Hague, and will travel to both venues in 2027.

On view from 3 October 2026 until 28 February 2027
📍 Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Bringing together around one hundred works made between 1970 and 2015, the exhibition traces how Farmanfarmaian’s practice moved between two cities. Mirror mosaics and sculptural assemblages hang alongside collages, floral drawings, rugs, calligraphic works and her autobiographical ‘Heartache Boxes,’ as well as ‘Third Family’ (2011), one of her most expansive studies of the hexagon. Inspired by the ayeneh-kari of the Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz, she brought mirror mosaic out of architecture and into sculpture. She later rebuilt her practice through intimate works on paper during 25 years of exile in New York, then returned to Tehran in 2004 for one of the most productive periods of her career. “You become part of the art, and the art becomes part of you.”

Image: Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Untitled (C7), 2010, Wool, Hand-woven in Bijar, 122 x 140 cm.

Tap on the link in our bio for more information.
––––––––––

‘Fouad Elkoury Retrospective,’ an online screening program is currently , presented by ArteEast as part of Unpacking the ArteArchive.

On view until 30 September 2026
📍Online, link in bio 🔗

Surveying more than two decades of Elkoury’s filmmaking, the program traces a practice that began in 1960s Beirut, when he first picked up his father’s camera as a child. That everyday impulse grew into a body of work following civil war, displacement, and political uprising across the Middle East, at once playful and sincere.

Films include ‘Lettres à Huguette (Letters to Huguette),’ ‘Civil war, the film,’ ‘Welcome to Beirut,’ and ‘Jours tranquilles en Palestine (Quiet Days in Palestine).’

Image: Fouad Elkoury, Lettres à Huguette, 2021, 49’. Film Still.
––––––––––

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for the opening of ‘Taking Form,’ Rana Begum’s (Rana Begum) fifth solo exhibition with the gallery. Swipe to explore installation views of the show. ✨

On view until 10 November 2026
📍The Third Line, Dubai, UAE

‘Taking Form’ continues Begum’s exploration of textiles, bringing the medium into dialogue with her ongoing interest in light, color, and material. While embracing a turn towards softness and delicacy, the works in ‘Taking Form’ build on Begum’s longstanding engagement with abstraction and Minimalism, continuing her exploration of light through new materials and forms.

This engagement with geometry runs throughout: forms suggest patterns that extend beyond their physical boundaries. Drawing on Islamic geometry, the square and rectangle establish defined perimeters, while the configurations within them suggest a sense of continuation. The geometry is never truly contained.

Tap the link in our bio for more information.

Installation View: Rana Begum, Taking Form, 2026, The Third Line, Dubai. Photo by Ismail Noor, Seeing Things.

Tap on the link in our bio for more information.
––––––––––

The Third Line is pleased to announce No History of Shapes / لا تاريخ للأشكال, Jordan Nassar’s (🌹🕊 جوردن نصار 🕊🌹) second solo exhibition with the gallery, presented at Frieze No. 9 Cork Street (Frieze).

🕕Opening: 6 - 8 pm | 8 October 2026
📅 8 - 24 October 2026
📍Frieze No. 9 Cork Street, London, UK

The exhibition brings together a new body of multi-panel embroidery works and vibrant mosaics that recontextualize the history and aesthetic traditions of Palestine.

In his delicate embroidery works, Nassar introduces a new geometric language inspired by the seminal Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s Convertible series, while extending his poignant inquiry of color and patterns. The mosaics echo a Byzantine mosaic found in northern Gaza, inviting viewers to imagine the whole and its embedded narratives.

Tap the link in our bio for more information.

Image: Jordan Nassar, They Build Homes with Clouds, 2026, Hand-embroidered cotton on cotton, Variable dimensions.
––––––––––

TOMORROW: ‘Taking Form’ by Rana Begum (Rana Begum) opens at The Third Line ✨ Join us to celebrate the artist and her fifth solo exhibition at the gallery.

🕐 Opening Reception: 6 - 9 pm | 23 September 2026
📅 23 September – 10 November 2026
📍The Third Line, Dubai, UAE

‘Taking Form,’ is Begum’s fifth solo exhibition at the gallery, featuring a new body of works across linen, textile, wood, and paper.

The exhibition continues Begum’s exploration of textiles, bringing the medium into dialogue with her ongoing interest in light, color, and material. While embracing a turn towards softness and delicacy, the works in ‘Taking Form’ build on Begum’s longstanding engagement with abstraction and Minimalism, continuing her exploration of light through new materials and forms. This engagement with geometry runs throughout: forms suggest patterns that extend beyond their physical boundaries. Drawing on Islamic geometry, the square and rectangle establish defined perimeters, while the configurations within them suggest a sense of continuation. The geometry is never truly contained.

Tap the link in our bio for more information.

Image: Rana Begum, No. 1673, 2026, Wool Jacquard Woven Rib Fabric, 456.6 x 140 x 2 cm
––––––––––

Youssef Nabil (YOUSSEF NABIL) is part of ‘El Marsam: Modern and Contemporary Art from Egypt,’ a group exhibition at the Middle East Institute (Middle East Institute), Washington D.C., curated by Heba El Kayal (Heba Kayal).

On view until 11 December 2026
📍 Middle East Institute, Washington D.C., USA

Taking its title from the Arabic word for “studio,” El Marsam traces the origins and evolution of Egyptian modern art and its enduring influence on contemporary practice in Egypt and across the diaspora. Bringing together more than 45 works, the exhibition honors the studio as a site of creation and exchange across generations, setting historically significant figures alongside leading and emerging Egyptian artists working today. It marks one of the first presentations at a U.S. public institution dedicated exclusively to Egyptian modern and contemporary art.

Image: Youssef Nabil, Say Goodbye, self-portrait Alexandria 2009, 2009, Hand-colored silver gelatin print, 26 x 39 cm.

Tap on the link in bio for more information.
––––––––––

Huda Lutfi (Huda Lutfi) participates in ‘El Marsam: Modern and Contemporary Art from Egypt,’ a group exhibition at the Middle East Institute (Middle East Institute), Washington D.C., curated by Heba El Kayal (Heba Kayal).

On view until 11 December 2026
📍 Middle East Institute, Washington D.C., USA

Taking its title from the Arabic word for “studio,” El Marsam traces the origins and evolution of Egyptian modern art and its enduring influence on contemporary practice in Egypt and across the diaspora. Bringing together more than 45 works, the exhibition honors the studio as a site of creation and exchange across generations, setting historically significant figures alongside leading and emerging Egyptian artists working today. It marks one of the first presentations at a U.S. public institution dedicated exclusively to Egyptian modern and contemporary art.

Installation view: Huda Lutfi, from the group exhibition “Mu’awiya’s Thread”, at 32Bis, Tunis, 2 June - 14 July 2023

Tap on the link in bio for more information.
––––––––––