Showing posts with label Middle East. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Middle East. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Inaugural Middle Eastern art show ends Friday


Raeda Saadeh (b. 1977), Penelope, 2010/ Rose Issa Projects, London. The artist is a Palestinian who explores "issues of displacement, gender, and identity, with particular reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," according to the label copy.  In mythology, Penelope was a Greek woman who waited 20 years for her husband, Odysseus, to return from the Trojan War.  Here, Penelope represents a Palestinian neighborhood.

The public is invited to attend at no cost the first art show at Washington's newly restored Middle East Institute, but haste is necessary since the exhibition closes Nov. 22.
Ayman Baalbaki (b. 1975), Al Mulatham, 2012/private collection. Political turmoil is often the subject for this Lebanese painter and installation artist from Beirut. This work "portrays the idealism of [Mr. Baalbaki's] father's generation and serves as a symbol" of unending conflict, according to the label. Mr. Baalbaki is a popular Arab artist who has enjoyed exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2011).
MEI's new gallery is intended to be "a platform for the Middle East's leading and emerging artists to engage with U.S. audiences and the local D.C. community," wrote Kate Seelye, MEI's vice president for arts and culture, in a statement.  .

Featured in Arabicity/Ourouba are 17 artists' works of installation art, video, painting, and sculpture.
Batoul S'himi (b. 1974), Arab World Under Pressure and Monde Sous Pression Militaire, 2012/Rose Issa Projects, London/photo by Patricia Leslie.The carvings on the pressure cookers are maps intended to illustrate worldwide hostility and unrest. Works by this Moroccan artist are found in museums around the globe.  She teaches at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan. Through the window is N Street, NW.
Anas Albraehe (b. 1991), Untitled, 2002 /Rose Issa Project, London. This is a detail from the artist's series, The Dream Catcher, which "explores the temporary refuge of sleep for laborers and men displaced by war" (and women?) to illustrate the link between sleep and wakefulness. Mr. Albraehe has an MA in Psychology and Art Therapy from Lebanese University.
London-based producer and author, Rose Issa, curated this first show, and she came from London to introduce it.

MEI got its start here in 1946 and prides itself on being "the oldest Washington-based institution dedicated solely to the study of the Middle East," and the only gallery in Washington "dedicated to showcasing" Middle East contemporary art.
Tagreed Darghouth  (b. 1979), Brighter than a Thousand Suns, 2012/Rose Issa Projects, London. This Lebanese artist has won several prizes.  She draws inspiration from van Gogh, Rembrandt, literature, philosophy and everyday realities, according to the label copy. The message here seeks to illustrate the atomic bomb's effects on humans and the Earth. 

MEI's founders believe the arts have the power to influence culture and transform society, as well as to build bridges between the peoples of the U.S. and the Middle East.

 Five shows are planned for exhibition every year.
 The newly renovated Middle East Institute, 1763 N St., NW, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie
From left, Lyne Sneige, MEI Kate Seelye, MEI; Rose Issa, curator; and Mahmoud Obaidi, artist, at the Middle East Institute, Sept. 11, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie


What: Arabicity/Ourouba
When:  10 a.m. - 5 p.m. through Nov. 22, 2019


Where:  Middle East Institute, 1763 N St. NW, Washington D.C. 20036

Admission:  No charge

Metro station:  The closest stations are Farragut North, Farragut West, and Dupont Circle

For more information: 202-785-1141or the website.

patricialesli@gmail.com












Sunday, July 31, 2016

Middle East photo show ends at Women's Museum

This is a brother and sister, photographed by Gohar Dashti (b. 1980, Ahvaz, Iran), Untitled #4 from the series, "Today's Life and War," 2008, courtesy of the artist

If you missed the stark exhibition which ended today at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, She Who Tells A Story by 12 women photographers from Iran and the Arab world, you may still buy the 176-paged catalogue for $40.
The entrance to the show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

For the show's opening, museum director Susan Fisher Sterling wrote: "These groundbreaking artists challenge us to rethink our preconceived notions about Arab and Iranian women and their art." It "challenges stereotypes" about the Middle East region "and "provides insight into political and social issues."
This one and the three photographs below are part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  The series progresses into darkness, and the subjects gradually change expression and apparel until they are... no more.
Part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Above are the ending photographs in the series pictured below on the wall.  The first photograph begin with a smiling mother and daughter (and doll) who are progressively covered up until there is only darkness left (above; photograph on right).
Part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, 
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston


The artists' creativeness came unbound in the presentation, clashing with restrictive and cloaked apparel so often associated with women from the area and frequently seen on Washington's streets. Indeed, some artists focused their cameras on the hijab and the burqa. (The Middle East is not the only conservative region when it comes to vestments: In a report issued this year by the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of European countries regulate women's religious dress in one way or another.) 
Shadi Ghadirian (b. 1974, Tehran, Iran), Untitled, from the series "Qajar," 1998, courtesy of the artist
 Shadi Ghadirian (b. 1974, Tehran, Iran), Untitled, from the series "Qajar," 1998, courtesy of the artist
Not everything is dark and humorless.  Try an outing in a boat. Tanya Habjouqa (b. 1975, Amman, Jordan) Untitled from the series "Women of Gaza," 2009, courtesy of the artist and East Wing Contemporary Gallery
Ruth Halawani (b. 1964, Jerusalem) Untitled XIX, from the series "Negative Incursions," 2002, courtesy of the artist and Selma Feriani Gallery, London
 Ruth Halawani (b. 1964, Jerusalem) Untitled VI, from the series "Negative Incursions," 2002, courtesy of the artist and Selma Feriani Gallery, London

The exhibition included more than 80 photographs and a video installation which filled galleries with contemporary color, and black and white images of life (sometimes staged) in the Middle East.

NMWA Curator Kathryn Wat noted on a tour that the show contained different subjects (including gender roles, military objects, and ways women are oppressed), displayed with "an element of grit, a lot of humor, and irony." Nine of the dozen artists still live in the Middle East. 

The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where it opened and next traveled to Stanford University and then, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh before arriving in Washington.
 
Buy the catalogue here or at
the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005 which has other exhibitions to see.

Admission: Free on the first Sunday of the month (August 7) or $10, adults; $8, seniors and students; and always free for members and children, 18 and under.

For more information: 202-783-5000

Metro station: Metro Center. Exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north.

patricialesli@gmail.com