I’m Never Coming Back – Aidha Badr at Firetti Contemporary, Dubai
Firetti Contemporary, in collaboration with Hunna Art Gallery, presents ‘I’m Never Coming Back’, a deeply personal and thought-provoking solo exhibition by Dubai-based artist Aidha Badr (b. 1996, Brooklyn, NY). Opening on 19 September 2025 and running until 7 November 2025, the exhibition explores transformation, identity, and motherhood through a striking series of intimate, emotionally charged works.
A Meditation on Transformation
Motherhood, for many, represents one of life’s most profound transitions. It is a shift that unfolds quietly, without ceremony, yet it alters everything, reshaping routines, relationships, and one’s sense of self. For Badr, this period of transformation became the catalyst for a body of work that blurs the line between personal narrative and collective experience.
I’m Never Coming Back invites viewers into this liminal space. At this delicate threshold, the artist explores her identity between daughter and mother, between who she once was and who she is becoming. Each painting acts as a visual diary entry, unfiltered and emotionally exposed, capturing the subtle tensions of selfhood during change. There is a sense of vulnerability, but also resilience, threaded through every canvas.
From Daughter to Mother: An Evolving Perspective
Badr’s earlier practice often explored the complexities of female desire and the intricate dynamics of the daughter-mother relationship. Her previous works dissected how the maternal figure shapes childhood, perception, and the early development of identity.
In this new collection, however, the perspective shifts inward. Now painting as a mother herself, Badr uses her canvases as intimate territories for self-reflection. Through these works, she confronts her own vulnerabilities and projections, exploring the duality of nurturing and becoming. The result is a visual language that speaks to both personal and universal experiences of motherhood, identity, and emotional transformation.
Fragmented Self-Portraits and Inner Monologues
Among the most compelling elements of the exhibition are Badr’s self-portraits. Fragmented and deliberately restrained, they portray the artist as a distant Madonna, protective, enigmatic, and quietly authoritative. By tightly cropping her figures and withholding direct intimacy, Badr creates a tension between presence and detachment.
Scattered across the works are handwritten phrases lifted from the artist’s inner monologue:
“Stay with me a little longer” …
“Nothing ever happens” …
These fragments are quietly powerful, tracing the evolving contours of identity. They echo the emotional shifts of motherhood — the longing, the acceptance, and the simultaneous holding of past and present selves.
The Horse as a Central Motif
One of the most striking features of I’m Never Coming Back is the recurring motif of the horse. Symbolising strength, vulnerability, and transformation, the horse appears in multiple forms throughout the exhibition, embodying different facets of identity and self-acceptance.
A Dissected Toy Horse – Evoking the fragility of identity and the reconstruction of self.
Two Foals in Motion – Representing tenderness and tentative exploration of new roles and identities.
Three Horse Studies – Culminating in the powerful piece I Am Not the Same and I Am Never Coming Back, where a fully formed horse dominates a toy version of itself, symbolising ultimate acceptance and transformation.
For Badr, the horse becomes a metaphor for her own journey. As she explains:
“Accepting change without fighting it — to move forward quietly, with grace. It’s not about running or escaping anymore. It’s about being present with whatever’s shifted, and finding a kind of freedom in that.”
Layers of Identity: Daughter, Mother, Artist
Throughout the exhibition, Badr weaves together multiple voices: those of the daughter, the mother, and the artist. Each identity informs the other, creating layered narratives of transformation, memory, and rediscovery.
The Daughter remains curious, playful, and sensitive, looking back to childhood memories and emotional attachments.
The Mother brings grounding and protection but also embodies an unresolved weight, navigating the unfamiliar terrain of nurturing while redefining herself.
The Artist ties these perspectives together, using painting as both exploration and catharsis.
By embracing these overlapping identities, Badr opens up a dialogue on femininity, family, and the often unspoken transitions that shape us.
About the Artist: Aidha Badr
Born in 1996 in Brooklyn, New York, Aidha Badr is a Dubai-based artist formally trained in portraiture. Her practice explores memory as a medium, often revisiting themes of female desire, attachment, and the dynamics of familial relationships.
Badr’s early works focused on the maternal figure through the gaze of a daughter, questioning the narratives surrounding femininity and childhood. In her latest body of work, motherhood has reframed her perspective, leading her to create paintings that reflect the evolving nature of identity and the intimate intersections of personal and collective experience.
Today, Badr’s work continues to push boundaries, merging self-exploration with universal questions of transformation, belonging, and emotional resilience.
Exhibition Details
Exhibition Title: I’m Never Coming Back
Artist: Aidha Badr
Venue: Firetti Contemporary, Dubai
Public Opening: 19 September 2025
Closing Date: 7 November 2025
Organised By: Firetti Contemporary in collaboration with Hunna Art Gallery
Why You Should Visit
I’m Never Coming Back is more than an art exhibition; it’s a deeply personal meditation on identity, transformation, and acceptance. Through fragmented self-portraits, handwritten reflections, and symbolic motifs, Badr invites audiences into an intimate dialogue on what it means to grow, evolve, and reconcile the different versions of ourselves.
For visitors in Dubai this autumn, the exhibition promises to be one of the city’s must-see cultural highlights, offering a rare opportunity to witness a rising voice in contemporary art explore universal themes through a deeply personal lens.
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