Hend Al-Mansour Celebrates Arab American Women in New Exhibition at Mia

The Minneapolis Institute of Art is currently presenting Mihrabs: Portraits of Arab American Women, a stunning new exhibition by Saudi American artist Hend Al-Mansour ’02, MFA.

Known for her fusion of Islamic geometric abstraction and evocative portraiture, Al-Mansour makes her Mia debut with this deeply personal and political installation honoring the resilience, identity, and spiritual lives of Arab American women in Minnesota.

The exhibition features four large-scale, immersive “mihrabs”—architectural niches traditionally used in Islamic prayer spaces—reimagined as symbolic portraits of four unnamed women with roots in Morocco, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine. Each installation is richly layered with domes, arches, floral motifs, and sacred geometry, offering a meditative space that “points toward understanding this woman,” as Al-Mansour puts it.

“I came here to seek my independence as a woman,” said Al-Mansour, who began her career in cardiology before moving to Minnesota in 1997 and turning to art. “I find myself drawn to that theme of empowering women and finding women with resilience and power.”

Mihrabs: Portraits of Arab American Women
July 19–October 26, 2025
Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, MN)

Learn More

• Mihrabs: Portraits of Arab American Women
  (startribune.com)
• Hend Al-Mansour: Mihrabs: Portraits of Arab American Women
  (new.artsmia.org)
• Hend Al-Mansour builds sacred spaces honoring Arab women in new Mia exhibit
  (sahanjournal.com—July 21, 2025)