Something unforgiving lies at the heart of Snakes & Ladders. Progress is arbitrary, effort offers no protection, and a single unlucky roll can undo everything. Long before we learn to name it, the game teaches us a hard truth: life rarely moves in straight lines.
“This balance of chance and control really reflects my experience working with emerging artists,” says Nico Venelli, producer of the exhibition. “On the one hand, you can see how the art scene here is developing, how emerging voices are becoming more confident. On the other, there’s a strong element of chance and play. The variety of paths that brought each artist here makes you question where you are, how you got here, and where you’re going.”
This idea lies at the heart of Snakes & Ladders, an exhibition opening at Mamar Lab in MiZa, Abu Dhabi, from 22 to 31 January 2026. Eight emerging artists from across the Middle East and its diasporas – including Qatar’s Gigi, Armenia’s Ina Michaelian, and Emirati artists Klaithem, Safeya Sharif, and Yoshi (Aisha Al Ali) -transform a familiar childhood game into a meditation on uncertainty, vulnerability, and the unpredictable forces that shape human experience.
“Working with emerging artists requires a willingness to let go of control,” adds Shamsa Alnahyan, co-curator of the show. “We couldn’t impose a single trajectory or outcome. We had to allow chance to take its course and resist that very human instinct to control everything. In that sense, Snakes & Ladders reflects our experience not only curating this exhibition but also navigating our own paths in this region.”
Curated by Alnahyan and Venelli, produced with Vertygo Art, the exhibition rejects the comforting story of steady advancement. Instead, it foregrounds instability. Snakes and ladders are not moral opposites: snakes, often read as symbols of failure, are moments of reckoning, forcing reflection when progress collapses. Ladders offer elevation, but not safety. Both expose the player – or the individual – to risk, revealing how fragile progress really is.
The participating artists interpret this framework through a rich variety of practices. Some works are confessional, rooted in memory and lived experience; others are abstract, exploring spatial, emotional, or metaphysical movement. Together, they form a constellation of moments that resist tidy narratives, echoing the unpredictable twists and turns of life itself. The exhibition brings together a dynamic group of artists -including Gigi (Qatari), Ina Michaelian (Armenian), Klaithem (Emirati), Maitha Bushelaibi (Emirati), Reem Ali (Saudi), Safeya Sharif (Emirati), Sarine Semerjian (Lebanese), and Yoshi (Aisha Al Ali) (Emirati) – offering visitors a compelling glimpse into contemporary art from across the region.
“Temporary and experimental exhibitions like Snakes & Ladders are absolutely vital to the ecosystem Abu Dhabi is building, especially at the grassroots level,” says Alnahyan. “They encourage fresh approaches, expanding the valence of interest within art exhibitions and feeding into the creation of an art culture in the city. The theme itself is something people can immediately connect with, whether or not they’re deeply involved in art.”
In a cultural moment dominated by narratives of optimisation, productivity, and self-mastery, Snakes & Ladders offers a counterpoint. It reminds us that many lives unfold within systems shaped as much by chance as by choice – and that meaning is often forged through adaptation, reflection, and resilience rather than control.
Venelli highlights the accessibility of the exhibition: “If someone walks in with no prior context, I hope they experience a balance between playfulness and depth. The works reflect moments of questioning: where are you in life, what are you doing, and how have your experiences shaped you? Some people believe strongly in destiny, others believe everything is shaped by choice – the works reflect those tensions.”
Alnahyan echoes this sentiment: “Snakes & Ladders really offers something for everyone. You can approach it emotionally, narratively, spatially – even through ideas of bending space and time. There isn’t one fixed reading. That openness is intentional.”
The exhibition aligns with Mamar Lab’s mission as an arts and urbanism incubation space: a site for experimentation and dialogue rather than definitive answers. Alnahyan’s curatorial approach foregrounds process, context, and lived realities, while Venelli’s Vertygo Art continues to support emerging voices and experimental formats that embrace risk over polish. Together, they frame the show not as a game to be won, but as a condition to be navigated.
“There is no final square. No clear ending,” says Venelli. “Just eight players, two dice, and the uneasy truth that the next move is never fully in our hands.
