Oxford to Outernet: LMH's Maliha Abidi unveils new immersive animation

LMH student and internationally exhibited artist Maliha Abidi (2025, Master of Fine Art) has premiered her latest animation, The Joy of You, at London’s Outernet. This marks her fourth collaboration with one of the capital's most high profile immersive art venues.

Inspired by Maliha's early experiences at Oxford, the work draws on a time when she found herself navigating a new environment and, at times, feeling out of her element.

"In such times, it is important to remember how to tap into our own sense of joy and understanding that even when we’re feeling this way, it is energy. Energy that you can turn around," she says, "It's a reminder that you can keep going while also finding the joy in the reason for your 'why.' Why did you start in the first place? And therefore, remembering why it is more important than ever to stick to it."

Through an combination of colour, movement and sound, the animation unfolds across Outernet's digital exhibition space, focusing on ideas of self-expression and identity.

Maliha says she does not place expectations on how audiences interpret her work, but hopes it resonates on a personal level. "I am fine with people’s interpretations. However, I want people to be able find a part of themselves in the work. Whether that is in the visual representation or the concept or anything. I want it to resonate with them so they know that there is art out there is representative of their identity or their experience or both."

You can find out more about the exhibition via Maliha's Instagram, or explore her wider work on her website.