Efie Gallery presents This Bloom I Borrow, a new solo exhibition by Ethiopian artist Aïda Muluneh, on view from 17 January to 5 April 2026 at its space in Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. Marking Muluneh’s second solo presentation with the gallery, the exhibition brings together over ten previously unseen works, extending the artist’s influential practice at the intersection of photography, performance, painting, and printmaking. Across a 25-year career, Muluneh has emerged as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary photography, recognised not only for her striking visual language but also for her sustained commitment to shaping photographic practice and infrastructure across Africa.
Known for her vivid, meticulously staged compositions, Muluneh draws on African iconography, architecture, and textiles to construct surreal visual narratives that challenge fixed readings of identity and representation. The works in This Bloom I Borrow were produced in the artist’s Abidjan studio, where painted backdrops and a cast of body-painted models form the basis of a highly controlled photographic process. For this new body of work, Muluneh further expands her methodology by bridging photography and printmaking, hand-finishing each piece through silkscreen printing and hand-painting techniques in collaboration with artisans in the UAE. The result is a series of unique, tactile objects that move beyond the photographic print, emphasising surface, texture, and material presence.
Visually, the works are defined by bold geometric compositions and a recurring symbolic vocabulary that includes eyes, keys, masks, flowers, and ancestral motifs. Rendered largely in striking primary colours, these symbols function as conduits for Muluneh’s ongoing exploration of identity, womanhood, and heritage. Rather than offering fixed narratives, the images operate as layered propositions—inviting viewers to navigate the tension between the personal and the collective, the spiritual and the political. Despite their highly stylised construction, the works retain an emotional intensity that underscores Muluneh’s ability to merge formal rigor with conceptual depth.
Reflecting on the exhibition, Muluneh notes that the works engage with “the dualities that shape existence,” exploring dialogues between visibility and concealment, memory and history, power and vulnerability. Framed as a meditation on impermanence and resilience, This Bloom I Borrow questions how culture, belief, and gender both shape and constrain the self. These concerns resonate strongly with Muluneh’s broader practice, which consistently interrogates how African subjects are seen, staged, and historicised within global visual cultures.
The exhibition coincides with the conclusion of Muluneh’s UK touring exhibition Nationhood: Memory and Hope, which closes at Street Level Photoworks in Glasgow in February 2026, and follows her largest public art commission to date. In 2023, Muluneh partnered with Public Art Fund to present images across more than 330 bus shelters in cities including Abidjan, Boston, Chicago, and New York, further cementing her reputation as an artist able to operate simultaneously within institutional, public, and community-facing contexts.
A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies This Bloom I Borrow, featuring newly commissioned texts by Grace Aneiza Ali, Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum, and Simon Njami, offering critical perspectives on Muluneh’s evolving practice. The publication situates the exhibition within the artist’s wider contributions as an educator and cultural entrepreneur, including her founding of Addis Foto Fest, Africa Foto Fair, and the Africa Print House—initiatives that have played a crucial role in developing photographic ecosystems across the continent.
Founded in 2021, Efie Gallery has established itself as a leading platform for contemporary artists of African origin, fostering cross-cultural dialogue between Africa, the Middle East, and the global diaspora. Now located in Alserkal Avenue, the gallery continues to expand its programme through exhibitions, residencies, and community engagement. With This Bloom I Borrow, Efie Gallery reinforces its commitment to presenting ambitious, conceptually rigorous projects that foreground African perspectives while engaging global conversations in contemporary art.
This Bloom I Borrow is on view at Efie Gallery, Warehouse 61, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, from 17 January to 5 April 2026, Monday to Saturday, 11am–7pm.
