The Oman Times reports on the Take Away Art Project (TAAP), which works to create ties between international and French artists. TAAP, founded by Jessica Poignard, is now seeking to connect French and Arab artists, beginning with Oman. For more on cultural collaboration between France and Oman, take a look at The Omani French Centre The unusual choice of Oman is explained in the article: “they wanted a country that hadn’t been heavily affected by the Arab Spring, as currently in France there has been a lot of politically-inspired Middle East art from countries like Tunisia and Morocco.” Poignard also says that Oman’s keeping alive parts of its tradition is attractive, as “France has lost that.” Art and the Arab Spring, apparently has already “been done.”
In the past two weeks they have visited a number of places including Bait Al Zubair and Gallery Sarah, Stal Gallery, Ghalya’s Museum of Modern Art, Madinat Gallery, and the Omani Association of Fine Arts. They have also met with artists from Synergy Art Oman and the AWG’s Mona Lisa Art Club. When they return to France they will tell people that Oman’s contemporary arts scene is one rooted in culture and history, such as Anwar Sonya‘s colourful canvases of the Nizwa Souk, Alia Al Farsi‘s Omani faces, and Hassan Meer‘s photography and videos that examine the changes in society as it modernises….
Another Omani artist they hope to collaborate with is Hanan Al Shihi.
Arab Hyphen 