The artist collective Slavs and Tatars have opened an exhibition at New York University’s Rafael Viñoly-designed campus within Abu Dhabi’s controversial Saadiyat Island Cultural District to mark the end of a three-month residency, the Art Newspaper reports.

Titled Mirrors for Princes, the exhibition is inspired by the literary genre of medieval political science written to educate future rulers on behavior and etiquette. The exhibition explores self-help culture by reflecting on the genre’s ancient origins. Co-founder of the Slavs and Tatars, Payam Sharifi, explained, “These were guidebooks for future rulers, but they were also a gift to, and a subtle critique of the sitting ruler.”

Defending their decision to exhibit at Saadiyat Island, which also features the Abu Dhabi outposts of the Louvre and the Guggenheim and has repeatedly come under fire for alleged human rights violations, Sharifi said “Boycotting can come from a position of arrogance. We believe that engagement is more productive” (see Human Rights Watch Slams Abu Dhabi Museum Projects).

The highlight of the exhibition is a five-channel audio installation in which passages from an 11th century Turkic text are recited in five languages (Turkish, Uighur, Polish, German, and Arabic). The show also includes sculptures of grooming products, a not-so-subtle critique of the “grooming” of future leaders. The final section of the gallery has been converted into a tea house featuring a library with books pertaining to the show.