In this article Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi profiles Jewad Selim, who was a central figure in Iraq’s 20th century cultural scene, responsible for some of the country’s most important post-revolution art. Read more »
Archives for 2021
Sultan Sooud al-Qassemi discusses Building Sharjah and the evolution of the UAE’s third largest city
Emirati columnist, researcher and founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation Sultan Sooud al Qassemi speaks with Gilles about his book, Building Sharjah, co-edited with Todd Reisz, which explores how the discovery of oil in Sharjah in the 1970s propelled the Emirati city onto the world stage, as well as the many local, Arab and Persian influences on the art and architecture of the emirate. Read more »
Investigating the Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art
Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi joined the Middle East Initiative as the Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar. One of the ways he has engaged with the Harvard community and shared his expertise during the fall semester is through his study group titled “Investigating the Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art.” The study group provided students and fellows from across Harvard with the opportunity to understand Middle Eastern politics from a unique perspective: through the study of the region’s art production. Read more »
The UAE’s J Curve
Successful nations are born of hard sacrifices made to attain giant leaps. In the world of finance, a J Curve is a trendline in which an initial loss is immediately followed by a dramatic gain. In this article, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi discusses this phenomenon as it relates to the formation of the UAE. Read more »
Building Sharjah
In a new book, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and Todd Reisz trace the early boom days of modern Sharjah, drawing on personal archives as well as crowd-sourced photographs and documents. Read more »
‘Building Sharjah’: Book Documents the Rise of a Modern Gulf City
A new book titled “Building Sharjah” traces the architectural history of the city of Sharjah and the social and political contexts of its urbanization from the mid-20th century, from before the discovery of oil off its shores until the present day. Read more »