Eman Ali Omani-Bahraini, b. 1986

Biography
Eman Ali. Courtesy of the artists and 50GOLBORNE. Photo: Fumimaro Ayano
Eman Ali. Courtesy of the artists and 50GOLBORNE. Photo: Fumimaro Ayano
Ali’s work examines how memory, gender, and power shape visual and cultural narratives over time. Through research and image-making, she challenges systems of representation, navigating the space between documentation and speculation. Longing - whether for connection, belonging, or lost histories - runs through her work, shaping her engagement with both personal and collective memory. 

Ali’s practice resists fixed conclusions, moving fluidly between reality and fiction, record and imagination. Positioned as both an inquiry and a site of reinvention, her work disrupts dominant narratives, inviting a reconsideration of the systems that define what is seen, remembered, and ultimately forgotten.
Eman Ali (b. 1986) is an Omani-Bahraini visual artist based between Bahrain, Oman, and Kenya. After graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, she received an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art in London.
 
The ongoing photographic project Utendi, which the artist is developing through residencies supported by 50 Golborne in the Lamu Archipelago, focuses on the expressions and interpretations of the female gender within the inherited, syncretic culture—seen in rituals, architecture, nature, and poetry—and how they are perceived by women in a rapidly changing society.
 
Ali’s work has been exhibited at institutions such as the Institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), The Middle East Institute (Washington, D.C.), and the Pinakothek der Moderne & ZIRKA (Munich). She is currently a resident at Tokyo Arts and Space (TOKAS) in Japan, where her residency will culminate in a solo exhibition in Tokyo.
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