When Absurdity Becomes The Form

The two works of art above, by Lebanese artist Youssef Shawki, are described in an article in The National as at the centre of his exhibition, Acid Fields, "a collection of abstract works featuring tormented and distorted figures." The only two paintings that veer from illustrating bodies are the maps: Arab World Map Construct / …

Mapping the Middle East

Art about maps and the Middle East, from Lebanese/Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum's many maps, such as Bukhara (above), to Jordanian artist Oraib Toukan's The New(er) Middle East and Saudi Abdulnasser Gharem's No More Tears map. Mona Hatoum - Mappings from Serpentine Gallery on Vimeo. Hatoum approaches cartography and mapping in its perverse dimension of control, …

Making History in the Middle East

Glenn Lowry, former F|S curator of Islamic art and now director of the Museum of Modern Art, talks about contemporary art in the Middle East. In this presentation he looks at how history is constructed, in a region characterized by deja-vu, by the constant return of history. He mentions the Gulf and Levant, and in …