A Necessary Fiction: Maps, Art, and Models of Our World

the exhibition explores how maps—historical and contemporary—shape the way we understand and imagine the world. Spanning from the 13th century to the present, it brings together historical cartography, archival objects, and contemporary artworks to show how mapping has always been a mix of science, myth, imagination, and political interpretation. The exhibition places early European and Arabian maps alongside artifacts and manuscripts that highlight long-standing cultural and trade exchanges across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. Contemporary artists intervene throughout the space, reinterpreting cartography as a poetic, political, and sensory tool.