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Tribune News Network
Doha
A WIDE ranging programme of exhibitions and displays was announced on Tuesday at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, running from October 17,2018.
'Revolution Generations', a ground-breaking exhibition curated by Abdellah Karroum, director of Mathaf, will present artists from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran and diaspora, looking at important moments of change in the history of modern and contemporary art; specifically the 1950s-1960s post-independence(s) era; a period between 1970s-1990s, and the 2000s pre-revolutions decades, when underground artistic movements developed in the region in response to the absence of freedom of expression.
Offering a historical narrative, 'Revolution Generations' introduces artists as vital actors of social and cultural change in each of these periods of modern and contemporary history.
The exhibition is staged in three parts. Chapter one looks at the fight for independence in North Africa, the Middle East countries and beyond in the 1950s, the beginning of new languages in art and literature. Chapter two presents works by artists who are part of the Pan-Arab cultural movement in the 1970s. Chapter three looks at the generation of artists who prefigured the Arab Spring in the 2000s inventing new vocabularies that look at societies undergoing change.
Artists featured in the exhibition include: Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901-1991), Turkey ; Hussein Bicar (1913-2002), Egypt; Hatem El Mekki (1918-2003), Tunisia; Inji Efflatoun (1924-1989), Egypt; Shakir Hassan al Said (1925-2004), Iraq; Jilali Gharbaoui (1930-1971), Morocco; Baya (1931-1998), Algeria; Burhan Karkoutly (1932-2003), Syria; Ahmed Cherkaoui (1934-1967), Morocco; Farid Belkahia (1934-2014), Morocco; Louay Kayali (1934-1978), Syria; Ismail Fattah (1934-2004), Iraq; Mohamed Chebaa (b 1935), Morocco; Abdullah al Muharraqi (b. 1939), Bahrain; Dia Azzawi (b. 1939), Iraq; Simone Fattal (b. 1942) Syria; Kamal Boullata (b. 1942) Palestine; Jassim Zaini (1943-2012) Qatar; Shirin Neshat (b. 1957), Iran; Nazar Yahya(b. 1963), Iraq; Marwan Rechmaoui (b. 1964), Lebanon ; Walid Raad (b.1967), Lebanon; Hicham Benohoud (b.1968), Morocco; Mounir Fatmi (b. 1970), Morocco; Marwan Sahmarani (b.1970), Lebanon; Sabhan Adam (b. 1973), Syria; Amal Kenawy (1974-2012), Egypt; Hassan Khan (b.1975), UK; Shiva Ahmadi (b. 1975), Iran.
Works on show are drawn from the extensive collection of Mathaf, alongside loans from international public and private collections, and from artists and galleries.
In parallel, Mathaf will present the exhibition Mounira Al Solh, I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous, curated by Hendrik Folkerts (Dittmer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Art Institute of Chicago) and Laura Barlow (Curator, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha). In the series of drawings, 'I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous' (2012-ongoing), Mounira Al Solh (born 1978, Beirut, Lebanon) collects personal histories and experiences that emerge from the humanitarian and political crises in Syria and the Middle East.
Two Focus exhibitions will also be on view, continuing the in-depth display series dedicated to historical artists from the Museum's Collection:Fateh al-Moudarres: Colour, Extensity and Sense, guest curated by Sara Raza (Independent Curator), presents a posthumous view into the oeuvre of this modernist artist's studio practice. Deliberately organised as a thematic slice, as opposed to a retrospective, this exhibition provides a revisionist lens, which examines al-Moudaress's works within the context of his engagements with Surrealism and Sufism.
JassimZaini: Representation and Abstraction, curated by FatmaMostafawi (Curator, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha), will present a focused view of the works of a pioneering Qatari modernist. The exhibition explores Zaini's artistic vision and examines two formal artistic directions adopted by the artist during different and overlapping periods of his artistic career.
Concurrently, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, marking its 10th anniversary, will present Syria Matters, a major exhibition documenting the cultural heritage of Syria, illuminating Syria's key role in the artistic and intellectual history of the world.
