Ammar Al Attar (b. Dubai, 1981) is a self-taught, Emirati mixed-media artist. Ammar’s practice seeks not only to document and translate, but also methodically research and examine aspects of regional ritual, material culture, and geographic orientation that are increasingly elusive in his rapidly globalizing society. His shift into performance art has given his work new depth, as it encompasses his gaze as both the subject and the observer. By using performance to translate interactions with his daily and natural environment, Ammar widens the scope of possibility, providing a window into experience, perseverance, endurance, and ultimately creation.
Ammar had several solo exhibitions, including Out of Range, Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Deformation, Cuadro Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2017); Salah, Cuadro Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE (2015); Art Index 1.0, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE (2015); Prayer Rooms, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, KSA and Al Riwaq Art Gallery, Bahrain (2013). Ammar has participated in a number of exhibitions, most recently at Time and Identity Exhibition, Al Safa Arts and Design Library, Dubai, UAE (2023); The Shot, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2022); Past, Borrowed, Gulf Photo Plus and Warehouse 421, UAE (2022); Abu Dhabi Art Commission, Qasr Al Muaigai, Al Ain, UAE (2018); The Place I Call Home, (commissioned by British Council), Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE (2019-20); Al Haraka Baraka, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE (2016); Place and Unity, Works from ADMAF Collection at Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE (2016); Shara Art Fair, Jeddah, KSA (2016); Emirati Expressions IV, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2015); Emirati Insights, ADMAF, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2015); Accented, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE (2015); 34th Annual Photography Exhibition, Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah, UAE (2015); Past Forward (a traveling exhibition commissioned by the UAE Embassy and the Meridian International Center in Washington, DC), Washington, DC, Texas, Los Angeles, CA, Michigan, and Chicago, Il, USA (2014 – 2015); The Other Me, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE (2014); 32nd Emirates Fine Arts Society Annual Exhibition, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE (2014); Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE (2013); and Roaming Images: 3rd Thessaloniki Biennale (2011).
Ammar has received the First Place Prize at the Annual Photography Exhibition (2014) and First Place in Installations at the Emirates Fine Arts Society Annual Exhibition (2014).
Ammar’s works are held in important UAE collections, including Sharjah Art Foundation, Barjeel Art Foundation, ADMAF, and internationally at the British Museum, Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art in China, in addition to private collections around the world.