Meet Nikki Meftah and Dima Abdul Kader, the founders of Emergeast
Art work by Elham Etemadi “Iran Wonder Room”, 2021 , Emergeast collections
Written by Sahar Esfandiari
In 2014 Nikki Meftah and Dima Abdul Kader founded Emergeast, the first online art gallery dedicated to celebrating and supporting emerging and mid-career artists from the WANA region.
At the heart of Emergeast’s work is a desire to highlight authentic storytelling from the region. Both Dima and Nikki identify as third culture kids who accessed parts of their own identities through art when coming of age.
Their vision for Emergeast encompasses the inclusive of the wider cohort of third culture kids spread across the world, an aspiration that they feel is best facilitated through the digital space as opposed to a traditional bricks and mortar gallery in one geographical location.
Over the last year, the art market was forced to shift online due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the importance of online galleries has intensified as a result. Today, even as galleries and art fairs in the UK and around the world start to open their doors again, the events of the last year have created what looks to be a permanent shift towards the digital. The art market’s approach to viewing, selling and buying artwork has experienced a very real change.
For Nikki and Dima, the events of the last year have reaffirmed their shared vision for a digitalised, accessible, and empowering future art market. I speak to Nikki and Dima about the challenges of setting up Emergeast, their experiences as third culture kids, and their thoughts on how a more digitalised art world will contribute to the rise and equality of women practitioners.
You identify as third culture kids, tell us about your backgrounds and where you are now.
Dima: Being Palestinian and born and raised in Doha in British schools followed by my undergrad and Masters degree from Montreal and London respectively, it is safe to say that a third culture description is an understatement! Growing up my identity was rooted in my Middle Eastern background but shaped by the Western influences of school, pop culture and media and so much more - I believed all kids around the world were the same! It wasn’t until after my time in the West and coming back to the Middle East that a question of my identity and where I was on the West to East spectrum started to get to me - it was very difficult to reconcile who I was with where I belonged. It was through art that I was able to get to know myself as a person, defined by my individual traits, not my labels. I wanted people who were struggling to unearth their authentic self to seek who they were by finding out what resonates with them through creative expression for peace and comfort.
Nikki: As an Iranian-born Londoner educated in a French school, I was always striving to make sense of my identity. In search for a sense of belonging, I oscillated between being the Iranian girl in school and the English girl amongst family and friends. As a child I’d be surrounded by Persian and Islamic art, poetry and music at home but live a paradoxical life outside the home and felt inauthentic, I felt disconnected.
It wasn’t until I stumbled on Shirin Neshat’s Women of Allah series that I could make sense of this East and West dichotomy; this is the series that propelled me into pursuing the arts. I wanted to show people that you really can get to discover part of yourself through art.
We launched Emergeast in Dubai and six years later after establishing our name in the middle East, I decided to move back to London with a renewed sense of self and mission to expand our audience and educate the international audience on the region through the visual arts.
What were the genuine challenges of being two MENA women running a gallery in an elitist and white-dominated art world?
Nikki: The concept of a strictly online art gallery was premature for the Middle East when we launched. Introducing our concept to industry experts wasn’t as welcomed as we had hoped in the beginning. Like all traditional ecosystems with firm models in place, disruptive innovation can be seen as somewhat of a threat to already established systems in place. The MENA art scene is made up of an exclusive club and it took determination and perseverance for us to ally with those who understood our vision and wanted to support us.
One funny story we always remember - once at an art event in Dubai, a specialist asked us more about our initiative and after our reply turned around to her colleague in French and mumbled “What the fuck are they doing?”. We took that and ran with it. Ironically, it served as ammunition to prove ourselves and push past people’s limiting beliefs. Art is for all and Emergeast’s mission is to break this notion that it’s reserved for the 1%.
Dima: Many aspects of our initiative were not synonymous with what is classified under the traditional “art world”. Our idea to bring together emerging artists and emerging collectors through the digital world didn’t fit with the traditionalists - despite this we incubated a new generation of collectors whom we want to graduate towards the ‘elitist’ art world, and eventually acquire from ‘blue chip’ galleries.
Art work by Mays Al Moosawi, And She Embraced the Chaos as it Painted Her Life with Purpose, 2020, Emergeast collections
Why is it important to you for art to be accessible beyond the 1% who owns it now?
Dima: Art is freedom of expression. Creatives are free to express and everyone should have the freedom to access their message, understand and collect the themes and dialogue that they connect with on a deeper intellectual and spiritual level. We believe in everyone having to play a role in supporting and engaging in cultural and creative development as a main pillar in society. One of the main reasons we started Emergeast is because we wanted the likes of our network and beyond to recognize they too can wholly experience and understand art just like that ‘1%’ - we want to breakdown the misconception that it is not a certain segment of society or type that can ‘understand’ art. It is a universal language everyone and anyone should subscribe to. At the end of the day, it is through art we can get to know ourselves.
Tell us a little about the artists you represent.
Dima: Over the years, despite not physically meeting a number of our artists, they have become our family - the Emergeast artists collective have grown with us since into internationally recognized artists. At Emergeast, Nikki and I continually stay true to our vision of encompassing the wider collective through ensuring there’s always something for everyone.
For instance Keyvan Heydari, an Iranian artist based in San Francisco has been a part of Emergeast since inception - his works offer a meticulous hybrid of Eastern influences inspired by the Sufi mystics Rumi and Hafiz and the color palette and brisk stroke of Western street art - falling out to the thud culture kids wanting a piece of home! Further, the works of Iranian artist Elham Etemadi and Syrian born Anas Homsi have offered our new collectors a gateway into the more traditional world of abstract surrealism and expressionism at affordable prices. All of whom have grown as artists and are still supported by their collectors to date!
Why is authentic storytelling important to you?
Nikki: If art is a reflection of how we feel inside, visual authentic storytelling can be a powerful tool to connect with and reflect upon life with. Often what we’re drawn to is calling something deep within us, whether conscious or unconscious, it mirrors our authentic self. Ultimately when buying an artwork, you are falling in love with a part of yourself.
What were the reasons you chose Emergeast to solely focus on the Middle East?
Dima: The choice of the MENA region is primarily due to our background as Middle Eastern women very much tied to their roots and identity. Also, Nikki’s background in specializing in Middle Eastern art provided us with the right lens with which to view the art world in terms of new artists coming out. There is so much untapped talent waiting to be shared across the region and beyond. Despite it being one region, it’s so nuanced in its political, economic and social diversity. We wanted to open up dialogue and unveil cross cultural creative expression - thank you internet! Our mission involves not just collectors and artists from the Middle East but we also want to give international collectors from all corners of the world a portal to access voices shaping the region - as we’ve grown we have fortunately been able to educate a wider global collective on the narratives taking form from the region.
Can you give us an insight into 3 of your most favourite and valuable moments? What are some of the most important learned lessons?
Dima: This is cliche and cheesy but one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is do not doubt your calling. Do not doubt yourself. Nikki and I have had so many memorable moments, both hard truths and amazing achievements that it’s difficult to pick three! One main one is when we were on CNN with Becky Anderson in the second year of Emergeast - that still feels surreal! One more cherished lesson I would say is keep swimming, sometimes it feels everything is piling up against you - but when you remember how far you’ve come and how many artists and collectors are behind you, you keep swimming, hard.
Nikki During the pandemic, the Oriental Museum of Durham University acquired 30 artworks for their permanent collection, that was definitely a valuable moment for us and an indication that our artists works were officially standing the test of time. We are also now in partnership with the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, an institution we have always admired and now have the honour of working with.
As Dima said, the most valuable lesson learnt is to persevere even when you hit blocks. Remaining flexible and open. Ironically our live events make up of some of our favourite moments. Working digitally and creating an online community of collectors and enthusiasts is one thing, seeing that come to life in our live auctions and exhibitions is one of the most rewarding experiences. Knowing our efforts have manifested into creating this community is still somewhat surreal.
Nikka and Dima, Image courtesy of Emergeast + Henri Abraham Universe
How did pandemic affect you both as individuals?
Nikki: Aside from the anxieties and fears around family well-being, the pandemic served as a time to pause and self-reflect. It’s so easy to get caught up in your day to day without actually taking a step back and asking yourself why? At a moment when the whole world shifted online, I took a step back to reflect on what I’m doing, who I want to be, and the intention behind it all. This got me to enrol in an online leadership programme hosted by The Space Between, serving as a pivotal steppingstone in my personal life and how I service Emergeast. ‘What kind of leader are you when nobody is watching?’ was my biggest take away from the course and one that helped me step into my authentic self.
Dima: It expedited the internal healing process we all needed as a collective but individually I was afforded the opportunity to see what wasn’t working for me that I was previously ignoring! The pandemic helped polish perceptions of yourself and those around you as everything came to the surface.
What are your hopes for the future of Emergeast?
Dima: Our hopes for Emergeast go beyond your typical art gallery experience — as active practitioners of positive and sustainable change, our platform signifies a lifestyle brand that enlists the young urban professional to access themes shaping future commentary through the vehicle of creative expression.
Nikki: We’ve just relaunched our website with an array of new features so we’re looking forward to spotlighting our artists’ works on a deeper level through online solo exhibitions. This new digital space has given us the opportunity to deep dive into the artists narratives as well as hold space for dynamic storytelling and engaging content. Without revealing too much, we’re also working on an exciting NFT related project – we can’t wait to share!
To find out more about Sahar and Emergeast you can visit the following pages:
Sahar Esfandiari @saharesfandiari
Emergeast @emergeast