MEI Art Gallery – May First Friday Open House

Join us this First Friday from 6:00–8:00 PM for our Open House and experience Beyond the Weave: Contemporary Dialogues with AlSadu as part of Art Walk Dupont. This compelling exhibition has been featured in the Spring 2026 Arts Guide by The Washington City Paper as one of the visual art shows making a splash this season!

Sadu is a traditional weaving practice shaped by nomadic desert life and sustained by generations of women makers. Woven from sheep and camel wool, its vivid geometric bands translate inherited knowledge into a visual language of movement, memory, and identity, transforming practical necessity into a lasting cultural symbol. Initiated by Kuwait’s AlSadu Society, the Sadu Art and Design Initiative (SADI) has, since 2016, invited artists across disciplines to engage Sadu as both heritage and framework for contemporary exploration.

This exhibition brings together 12 Kuwaiti artists whose works reinterpret Sadu’s patterns, materials, and meanings, tracing a dynamic dialogue between past and present and affirming tradition as a living, evolving practice.

Participating artists include: Fatema Al Bader, Noor Al-Fayez, Abdulaziz AlRabea, Samaa Al Refai, Salem Al Salem, Jasem Al Sanea, Rua AlShaheen, Munirah Al Shami, Maha Al-Shimmery, Mahmoud Shaker Mahmoud, Hanadi Al Marzouq, Ali Al Yousefi

Beyond the Weave: Contemporary Dialogues with AlSadu will be on view at The MEI Art Gallery and open to the public Monday to Friday, 10 am-5 pm, through August 21, 2026. Walk-ins are welcome, or you can schedule an appointment online. Admission is free and open to the public.

In collaboration with