DOHA: Over 100 artists from Qatar, the Arab world and regions historically connected to the Arab Peninsula are featured at the “Mathaf Collection, Summary, Part 1” exhibition which opens to the public tomorrow at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art.
The works are from the museum’s collection of more than 8,000 works that continues to grow with new acquisitions and commissions from Mathaf exhibitions.
The exhibition reflects a multitude of artistic directions and contexts and contributes to developing research into the collection and its interconnections with contemporary cultures that is also present online in the Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World, developed by Mathaf.
Among the artists represented in the expo are Farid Belkahia, Faraj Daham, Wafa Al Hamad, Baya Mahieddine, Salman Al Malik, Mahmoud Mouktar, Wafika Sultan, Ibrahim Al Salahi, Hassan Sharif, Jewad Selim, Seif Wanly and Jassim Zaini.
African and Arabic representations meet in the paintings of Ibrahim Al Salahi; the work of Baya Mahieddine exemplifies her unique style of free figuration developed under the limitations of colonial rule in Algeria; Seif Wanly depicts modern Egyptian symbols of social and industrial progress and Hassan Sharif and Farid Belkahia use natural materials, found objects and local languages to express strong statements on the making of art in their contemporary contexts.
The exhibition is curated by Abdellah Karroum, Director of Mathaf; Laura Barlow and Leonore-Namkha Beschi, Assistant Curators; and Dr Yasser Mongy, Researcher.
Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali Al Thani, patron of Mathaf and the Permanent Collection, said:
“I am proud to see this collection being exhibited at Mathaf. Qatar has a long tradition of collecting works that reflect the inherent art, creativity and heritage in the region. It is my belief this important collection honors the traditions of the past in Qatar and throughout the Arab world, while embracing our future.”
Abdellah Karroum, Director of Mathaf, said: “Through this exhibition we are seeking to position modern and contemporary art from Mathaf’s collection within the local and global context, and give multiple entry points into the collection, through artistic research, historical moments and aesthetic experimentations on the idea of an Arab modernity.”
The curatorial concept of Mathaf Collection Summary, Part 1, looks beyond traditional linear histories of art to highlight diverse attitudes and contextualize intellectual production within multiple modernities. The methodology of display adopted in this exhibition is informative rather than spectacular, proposing new relationships between works and key moments in history.The Peninsula
