Pushing boundaries, testing limits: this powerful exhibition from the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE runs the gamut from photography to installation, sculpture to painting, and more. Experience the work of 12 Arab artists who examine how private life is shaped by current political events.

Featuring some of the most exciting contemporary art coming out of the Middle East and North Africa today, the works in this exhibition are united by an awareness of struggle — the struggle to cross geopolitical borders; the struggle to forge an identity in an ever-shifting world; and the inherent struggle of being an artist.

Home Ground: Contemporary Art from the Barjeel Art Foundation is remarkable in its variety. Khaled Jarrar’s Volleyball offers a poetic response to conversations held with children playing by the separation wall near Ramallah. Manal al-Dowayan’s ephemeral installation Suspended Together addresses the position of women in contemporary Saudi society. Adel Abidin’s video Memorial explores how ordinary life is violated by war. Raafat Ishak’s Responses to an Immigration Request from One Hundred and Ninety-Four Governments serves as a witty but poignant testament to challenges experienced by many immigrants and to the creativity of artists worldwide. These and other works in Home Ground: Contemporary Art from the Barjeel Art Foundation comment on the impact of crossing borders, both political and personal, in the 21st century.