GROUP SHOW WITH MONIRA AL QADIRI
A NECESSARY FICTION

ABBAZIA DI SAN GREGORIO, VENICE, ITALY
6 MAY – 22 NOVEMBER 2026

The Saudi Ministry of Culture announces A NECESSARY FICTION: MAPS, ART, AND MODELS OF OUR WORLD, a new exhibition at the Abbazia di San Gregorio in Venice on view from May 6 to November 22. The exhibition is curated by an international team, led by Sara Almutlaq and Aurora Fonda with associate curators Zaira Carrer and Amina Diab.A NECESSARY FICTION is a journey through territories in constant flux, where historical maps—dating from the thirteenth century to the present—serve as a lens through which to examine our enduring need to create models of the world. These models offer fantastic mythological visions and imaginative interpretations of scientific inquiry throughout the ages to the present day. The curators, working in close collaboration with exhibition designers Ibrahim Kombarji and Bianca Pedron, create a dynamic perspective on cartography over time and across a wide geographical span.

Early-modern maps, loaned from the collections of major global institutions, are placed in conversation with contemporary artworks. European maps depict the Arabian Peninsula as Arabia deserta, while first-century CE historical artifacts like incense burners and eighteenth-century decorative manuscripts from the Arabian Peninsula demonstrate the legacy of trade and multifaceted cultural interaction that has always shaped this region.

FEATURED ARTIST

MONIRA AL QADIRI
Monira Al Qadiri (b. 1983) is a Kuwaiti visual artist born in Senegal and educated in Japan. Spanning sculpture, installation, film, and performance, Al Qadiri’s multifaceted practice is based on research into the cultural histories of the Gulf region. Her interpretation of the Gulf’s so-called “petro-culture” is manifested through speculative scenarios that take inspiration from science fiction, autobiography, traditional practices, and pop culture, resulting in uncanny and covertly subversive works that destabilize mythologies of statecraft and modernization as well as traditional notions of gender. Tracing the delicate ecologies threate...
Read more