The Rise of Arab Art

Since the 1990s, contemporary art in the Arab world has experienced exponential growth and numerous changes. With the appearance of artists from the region in international exhibitions, the dynamics within the art scenes changed significantly. Museums & art foundations began to collect, biennials were launched, contemporary art galleries, fairs, residencies and schools emerged in many countries, and the governments of the Gulf states launched megaprojects. This reader serves as a guide for anyone interested in the foundations, structures and growth of these art scenes. It also functions as an anthology of what is now considered established in the Arab world, with contributions covering all aspects of the subject—both from across the region and from a Western perspective.



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Titlepage

Contents

Preface - Andrée Sfeir-Semler

Tarek Abou El Fetouh and Lawrence Abu Hamdan in conversation

Echoes of Algiers: Art, Memory, and Belonging - Bilal Akkouche

Building on Shifting Sands - Zeina Arida

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi: Early Days - Richard Armstrong, Valerie Hillings

From OAS to OASIS - Kader Attia

Becoming an Artist in Saudi Arabia - Dana Awartani

BIDOUN - Negar Azimi

Transmodernism: A Renewed Outlook on Modernism in the Arab World - Sam Bardaouil

A Nomad's Map - Yto Barrada

Notes on Tunis - Myriam Ben Salah

An Assemblage of Artists and Events, 1985–2025 - Antonia Carver

Enfolded Worlds: Exhibiting Art from the Arab World 2000–2016 - Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

Arab Art at Auctions - Mai Eldib

From Palestine to Abu Dhabi - Reem Fadda

The Art Dubai Story - Ben Floyd

The Phoenix / Beirut Forever - Massimiliano Gioni

Art in Morocco From 1950 Until Today: A Historical Reader - Abdellah Karroum

The Age of Mirror-Museums in the Persian Gulf - Alexandre Kazerouni

A Brief History of Canvas Magazine - Ali Y. Khadra

Paris-Riyadh - Mona Khazindar

On Representing Syrian Art: A Partial History of Exhibition and Imagination - Anneka Lenssen

2004–2024: From the Louvre to AlUla: Emerging Arab Contemporary Art - Sophie Makariou

On Pleasure: How to Be Non-Professional - Rabih Mroué

Creating and Exhibiting Modern Iraqi Art, in Baghdad or Elsewhere: Between Individual Initiatives and State Support - Silvia Naef

Hans Ulrich Obrist in conversation with Andrée Sfeir-Semler

Beirut, Twenty Years - Jean-Marc Prévost

Sharjah Art Foundation and Sharjah Biennial - Hoor Al Qasimi

Beirut Art Biome 1990–2025 - Jim Quilty

Scratching on things I could disavow: A photograhic record _ Appendix I 2003 – present - Walid Raad

Riwaq Biennale: Art, Heritage, and Speculative Institutions in Palestine - Khalil Rabah

Riwaq Biennale: A Living Institution of Art, Heritage, and Resistance - Khalil Rabah

On Being Held: Artworks as a History of Institutions - Sarah A. Rifky

On the Cusp Looking Back: Beirut in the 1990s - Sarah Rogers

Syrian Art: Bearing Witness, Building Hope - Kareem Sakka

Patronage in the Arab World - Alia Al-Senussi

Sfeir-Semler Gallery: Beirut - Andrée ­Sfeir-Semler

The Uncertainty of Times: Reflecting on a Field in the Making - Nada Shabout

I've always known that I'm an artist - Wael Shawky

Darat al Funun – The Khalid Shoman Foundation: A Home for the Arts and Artists from the Arab World - Suha Shoman

The Sultan Gallery: A Brief Overview of the First Permanent Art Gallery in Kuwait - Farida Sultan and Abdullah ­Al-Mutairi

Three Accidental Encounters - Rayyane Tabet

Qatar's Commitment to Art and Culture - Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

I Will Always Like How it Began - Christine Tohmé

On the Legacy of Townhouse Gallery, Cairo - William Wells

The Arab Image Foundation: A Dialogue on the Possibilities and Limits of an Institution - Akram Zaatari interviewed by Chad Elias

A Chronology of Art Infrastructure in the Arab World

Arab Artists Index

Image Credits

Acknowledgments

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