Importance of art education in UAE, especially at this time when much of the region’s culture is threatened by terrorist groups and civil strife, is exponentially greater than anywhere else in the region. Read more »
Arts & Culture
Sharjah’s Barjeel Art Foundation makes history
A look at Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi’s visionary aims for his project, the Barjeel Art Foundation based in Sharjah.
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Beirut re-brushed
In an Al-Monitor article in 2013, I suggested that partly because of the civil strife, traditional core cities in the Arab world such as Damascus, Cairo and Baghdad are facing, as well as increased cultural investments by Gulf states, the center of gravity for art and culture in the Arab world was shifting eastward to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha. The article created controversy both within the Gulf states and the wider Arab world. Read more »
Capturing the Ephemeral: An Interview with Sultan Al Qassemi on Art and Technology
In this interview with Creative Time Report, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, co-director of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum, connects the themes of this year’s conference with broader conversations about art, culture, politics and technology in the Middle East. Read more »
Young Artists in the GCC
Young Khaleeji artists, with and without the support or knowledge of their respective governments, have over the past few years challenged the status quo and shattered stereotypes about what was previously perceived to be a passive populace. Read more »
Art After the Internet
In this nimble, malleable, and responsive sphere, are artists enabled with an autonomy from art and its institutions? Could the Internet allow artists a means to jettison the formal structures and encourage a different kind of artistic expression? Or does it simply re-enforce real-world realities online? Read more »