Raisa Mariam Rajan ropes in art to reflect her concern for Nature

"Art for life's sake" is the recognisable feature of Raisa Mariam Rajan's creative journey.

- Muhammad Yusuf

For her, art is not merely a decoration — it is a dialogue, an emotional rebellion, and a vector of truth. Her work challenges viewers to listen to the whispered warnings of nature and the cries of a planet in peril. She is an artist who promotes the cause of sustainability and her latest solo exhibition, The Reflection of Nature (till April 24) at 1604 Artspace, Business Bay, Dubai, is a further step in both her career and the region’s growing movement towards sustainable art. The show marks a historic debut as the first-ever art collection crafted entirely from natural jute rope and zari, the traditional gold thread used in South Asian embroidery.

The fusion of zari’s shimmering elegance and rope, a material deeply rooted in the UAE's maritime and nomadic history - Raisa calls the combination 'Zarute' - results in a synthesis of sustainability and craft based on heritage. In choosing rope as her primary medium, Raisa not only champions sustainability, but also pays homage to the UAE's maritime and Bedouin legacy, where rope was used for everything, from building shelters to constructing ships. The cultural reference, interwoven with a global environmental message, makes her work both locally rooted and universally relevant.