Signs by Sundaram Tagore Gallery

SIGNS: CONTEMPORARY ARAB ART

Gallery Mission Established in 2000, Sundaram Tagore Gallery is devoted to examining the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-profit events that encourage spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts. With galleries in New York, Beverly Hills, and Hong Kong, our interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines, including poetry, literature, performance art, film and music.

Foreword In 2007 Sundaram Tagore Gallery New York hosted a panel discussion called Global Art in a Global Culture. The panelists—an international group of curators, artists, and writers—gathered to talk about how the shrinking world was affecting the expanding art market. I came away from the thought-provoking discussions that evening more sure than ever that beyond our borders (both geographic and intellectual) were many artists whose work warranted serious attention. On the panel that evening was Karin von Roques, a curator and art historian who specializes in the contemporary art of the Arab world. I knew immediately that she had the scholarly background to curate an exhibition from this little-understood part of the world that would rise above the obvious themes of politics and religion. Over the following two years, Karin and I talked and plotted, meeting in New York, Dubai, and Germany, eventually creating the exhibition chronicled in these pages. Rather than singling out Arab culture as “other,” this exhibition focuses on aesthetics and intellectual content—qualities that transcend nationality. With her selections, von Roques has succeeded in throwing into relief the wide range of important work emerging from the contemporary Middle East, brining some of its seminal artists to larger—and I hope, eager— audiences. Signs: Contemporary Arab Art opened in our New York gallery in October 2009 and is traveling to Art Asia Miami at the invitation of the fair organizers in December 2009. It will subsequently travel to our galleries in Beverly Hills and Hong Kong in 2010. —Sundaram Tagore

Contemporary Arab Art A SHORT HISTORY By Karin von Roques

or a long time the Arab art scene fell under the radar of the Western world. Only a short three years ago, hardly anyone spoke of modern and contemporary art from Arab countries. But, lo and behold, it has now come into the range of the international art world. How was it possible that interest in Arab art took so long to develop—in contrast to contemporary Russian and Chinese art, which found its way into galleries and museums and thus onto the market in the early 1990s? Visits to international art fairs like Art Basel, Art Cologne or FIAC proved that, although excellent works by Arab artists exist, they were as good as unrepresented there. Questioning the reasons for this, I set out some years ago to find the answer. My study included taking a poll among the leading gallery owners at the fairs. The answers showed me that very vague ideas existed about the quality of Arab art, including the prejudgments of it. “Don’t the artists as a rule just imitate European art and Western art styles?” Or: “Could art even develop there with the Islamic ban on images?” Again and again those questioned—among whom were representatives from the galleries Thaddaeus Ropac (Vienna), Lelong

(Paris) and Marlborough (London)—pointed to the lack of a market and the lack of a cultural infrastructure for the visual arts and specifically for Arab art in many Arab countries. Peter Huber of Art & Public in Geneva stated for example: “Above all, in the U.S. and in central Europe, a market for visual arts has developed. Because there is a tradition of investing in art, a market could be established. Nothing comparable exists in the Arab countries for the reason that painting, for instance, does not lie within their tradition.” Many gallerists, however, also expressed a fundamental interest in Arab art. “In order to deal with the art of Arab artists, however,” Thaddaeus Ropac from Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac said, “you need the necessary background knowledge, since they come from a totally different cultural environment. You have to familiarize yourself with the foreign culture. That demands an enormous effort, which galleries alone cannot do on their own. Normally museums take over the groundwork, specialists such as art historians or curators.” He pointed to the role of the Guggenheim in New York in the case of contemporary Chinese art. Since the poll that I set up about 10 years ago, the situation for Arab art has decidedly changed over a relatively short period. Since

Georges Fikry Ibrahim, The Carriage of the Farmer (detail), 2006, mixed media on paper, 93.3 x 133.9 inches

then, the demand for Arab art has steadily risen. Of crucial importance for this increased interest was, for one, the past years’ art auctions that took place in leading auction houses. Christie’s opened an office in Dubai in 2005 and one year later in May organized an auction of modern and contemporary Indian, Iranian, Arab and Western art that attracted much attention. For the first time, Arab artists had an international platform. The result exceeded all expectations. Shortly afterward Sotheby’s followed suit, but mounted its auction “Modern and Contemporary Arab and Indian Art” in London in October 2007, thus simultaneously testing whether the Western market would react to what was being offered. This auction, too, was a success. On the other hand, spectacular projects designed to build up and extend cultural infrastructure in the Gulf region—among which were the establishment of branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in Abu Dhabi—contributed to the fact that worldwide interest in Arab art and culture has grown. A master plan completed in January 2007 outlined the building of five museums, a biennial park with pavilions for fairs and for art and cultural events, as well as a performing arts center, hotels and galleries on the island Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi. But also in other countries, such as in Dubai or Qatar, plans exist for building museums, universities and academies. In addition, many new galleries have been built these past years, not only in the Gulf region but also in other Arab nations such as Morocco and Egypt. And beyond this, the Sharjah Biennial of the Emirate Sharjah has, over its many years existence, blossomed into an international event. It attracts an increasing number of visitors to this region (as does the Art 10

Dubai fair, established in 2007), most importantly, gallerists, collectors and friends of art. As regards art, something like a new dawn seems to reign in many Arab states. This is motivation enough to become increasingly engaged in the work of Arab artists. The question is allowed in this context as to what characterizes contemporary Arab art and what distinguishes it from Western art? Is there a pictorial world that can only emerge against a background of Islamic traditions? What are the sources of inspiration for Arab artists? What role do Islam, the history of the region or the after-effects of Europe’s colonial policy play? How much does the art reflect particular biographical situations such as exile or global nomadism? Since 9/11, public reportage on, and interest in, Islam and Islamic countries has been high. Although conventional wisdom suggests that knowledge leads to greater understanding between peoples and closer relations between countries, this has not been the case in this instance. As the dialogue and the reportage has almost exclusively centered on negative political and religious topics, the more humanizing issues from daily life and everyday culture have been neglected. It is obvious that more about the art and culture of Arab countries must be brought to the world’s attention. Thus, in Europe the first larger museum exhibitions devoted to Arab art took place, which was an initial contribution to opening up this cultural region. It is especially contemporary art that has the potential to initiate a dialogue on current themes and concerns. Understanding another culture comes about with a willingness to leave behind habitual ways of seeing things and dare to change perspective. Yet alien cultures are often looked at without any reflection or deeper

understanding taking place. The Muslim East provides an historical example. For centuries it sparked the imagination of Europeans to wild fantasies, which led to whole waves of various Oriental flavors-of-themonth. All of which had little in common with the “actual” East. Various motives lay behind these historical fantasies: for example, a longing for an intact world of archaic cultures, or the quest for new meaning in times of crisis. A widespread prejudice exists in the idea that the Muslim world is backward and backward-looking and has not continued to develop in step with the rest of the world. According to this view, modernism never took place and consequently no modern or contemporary art has evolved. Islamic modernity is negated or ignored according to the motto: “the more Western, the more modern.” This kind of thinking reduces the Muslim East to classical Islamic art, the art of the arabesque, of miniatures and calligraphy, which were felt to be typically Oriental. Somehow a no-man’s-land that no one wants to know about in any detail lies between this epoch and the present. Yet in Muslim countries, just as in Europe, processes of development and change have taken place: the fight to improve political and social conditions, the struggle with global political power constellations and—above all since the 19th century—the increase in Western influences and new technologies. These transforming processes also affect art. There has never been any history of art in Arab countries, or any development in art comparable to the West. Painting and especially sculpture—for centuries an integral part of European art tradition—are

uncommon forms of expression in Arab culture. Instead, it is poetry that occupies a central place within Arab consciousness. The word per se enjoys high prestige and esteem. This is linked to the Koran, the Islamic book of revelation, whose poetic language and especially its rhythm were meant to be heard rather than read silently. The Islamic prohibition of images has also played an important role in the fact that the visual arts have developed quite differently in Arab countries from the way they have in Europe. Many Europeans understand the Islamic ban on images as meaning that fundamentally no images at all may be produced. The development of an Arab art in the sense of global modernism began early in the 20th century, as a direct result of the increase in reciprocal influences between East and West. The profound changes of the period made themselves felt in all areas in the Western as well as the Eastern world, up to and including the art scene. Although in the West, the evolving abstraction in painting was viewed as a revolutionary development, artists in the Muslim world turned more and more to figurative painting. The ideal of contemporary European art, i.e., the rejection of merely reproducing the world of appearances, corresponds to the aesthetics of Islamic works of art. The aesthetic revolution in Islamic art, if you like, had already taken place many centuries earlier. In Arab countries artists began to paint in the style of European painting. Many had been in Europe and come into contact with, and been influenced by, different art movements such as Impressionism or Expressionism. Artists from Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Morocco became the trailblazers for other Arab artists. In the 1930s in cities like Beirut, 11

Cairo and Damascus, but also in Rabat, the first groups of artists formed that became engaged with the tendencies and techniques of European art as well as with their own cultural background. Without the influence of foreign cultures, above all of the Muslim East, Western modernism as it stands today would not be conceivable, in the same way that the development of Arab modernism is inconceivable without the various influences from the West. The trend toward modernism and the development of the visual arts in Arab countries did not run their course without tensions and conflicts between different groups. Some wanted to hold on to the cultural heritage such as classical calligraphy; others wanted to demonstrate that modernization and renewal were necessary and that the modern Arab world was well aware of the global aesthetic discourse. Conflicts sharpened when tradition was newly interpreted or criticism of the system became noticeable. In such cases, confrontations with conservative movements that opposed the new ideas occurred, and in worst-case scenarios governments sought to prevent the new developments in art or even suppress them by force. Some countries promoted their sanctioned state art, and this made the production of modern, contemporary art a perilous undertaking, which could often only be carried out underground. Not least of all, a deep-seated mistrust toward the colonial and imperialist West played a role in the conflicts, and not without reason. These misunderstandings arose partly from the experience of colonialism. On the one hand, Western art was admired. But certain circles saw a kind of “neo-colonialism” in the new forms of expression. 12

In the field of art, as elsewhere, a fear of a loss of one’s own tradition and one’s own identity existed, and artists who were assumed to be too much influenced by Western culture and Western moral concepts were regarded with suspicion. Meanwhile in the West, these selfsame artists were accused of being imitative. This dilemma has continued up to the present. Time, as well as global aesthetic correlation, will be needed before contemporary art finds acceptance in the cultures of individual Arab societies. The Arab artists who were experimenting with modernism soon fell between two poles. Their art was recognized neither in their own countries, nor really in the West. Even those who lived in the West had difficulty getting their art seen and accepted. In their native lands they could not reach a wide public because they had few opportunities to exhibit, since museums and galleries were scarce. In many Arab countries even today, the infrastructure that would make it possible to give contemporary artists more widespread publicity is lacking. In addition, educational opportunities are scarce, and few collectors focus on building up a collection of contemporary Arab art. Despite all these difficulties, modern Arab art is asserting itself. And, as explained earlier, the situation began changing only a short time ago. After World War II, a freer association with the “forbidden” image began. Artists experimented more, tried out new forms, techniques, and materials, and became increasingly liberated from European models, reflecting their own history critically, and their own circumstances. They took up traditional genres and modes, such as calligraphy or the ornamental, interpreting them in a new way, translating them into a

Khaled Al-Saaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i, Carpet of Letters, 2008, mixed media on canvas, 58 x 38 inches

contemporary vocabulary of forms and symbols. They likewise began to do work with the human figure. Artists reproduced it in all variations, rendering the question of “figurativeness” or “abstraction” obsolete. The question posed at the beginning of this essay, namely whether contemporary Arab art is distinguishable from Western art, implies the question of what a work of art is expected to accomplish. The French Impressionist painter Pierre Bonnard believed that a work of art should depict an autonomous world. In this spirit one Emirati artist, Ebtisam Abdul Aziz, said, “Art is a visual, nonverbal language. It is an international language, transcending space and time, and expressing our existence and style. This projecting of aesthetic consciousness, in a unique, modern and universally comprehensible presentation, turns the visual language of visual arts into a link between cultures and nations and makes it a medium for an international artistic infusion.” The crucial aspect is how something is depicted rather than what. The issue here is the autonomy of the work. And Arab artists are as much at pains as Western ones to achieve this. Vis-à-vis its Western cousin, the sole distinction of contemporary Arab art would then be its thematic context. Its social, cultural, political and religious environment plays a role in the choice of means, the composition of a picture, the configuration of a video, a sculpture, an installation. To understand a work of art we must ask what the artist is formally and thematically undertaking. With the new media and the technical possibilities art now has, the emphasis has shifted today. The question as to a national identity seems no longer to make sense. The new communication media, for example the Internet and globalization, facilitate the crossing of borders. Yet even though the 14

world has shrunk, an individual access to life remains, the confrontation of the single artist with himself, his society, the problems of his time and place, all of which he will formulate in his works. A work of art is communicated not least through a universal language. In an amazing variety, the works of contemporary Arab artists reflect all these networked concepts across personal, social and political spectrums. However, reference to their own traditions and a formation by their environments remain in place and shine through their works. Their artistic works make clear, an artistic avant-garde has been established that in its engagement with its own and with foreign cultures has gone its independent way, according to which artists follow the postulate of artistic autonomy as represented in the context of Western art. There is no educational price to pay for access to the visual discourse of our Arab contemporaries. What it requires is aesthetic and personal assurance on eye-level terms. We see expression as a globally recognizable quality. Signs: Contemporary Arab Art at Sundaram Tagore Gallery presents for the first time a selection of seven Arab artists. For all of them, calligraphy plays a vital role in their consciousness and their work. Five of them—Hassan Massoudy, Khaled Al-Saa’i, Ali Hassan, Yousef Ahmad and Ahmad Moualla—are devoted in their work to a further development of this tradition. The other two, Ayman El Semary and Georges Fikry Ibrahim, quote this tradition in their works. With its complex intellectual and spiritual significance, calligraphy represents an important source of inspiration for the creative work of many Arab artists, and it offers a lively pointer to their identity. Their originality makes considerable use of this source.

Calligraphy was originally developed in order to transmit the word of God in written form. The perfect word of Allah should be written in a commensurately perfect script. The basis for traditional calligraphy, which prescribes the rules for the script’s proportions, was laid down in the 10th century by vizier Ibn Muqlah. Legibility of the text and line aesthetics required a method of proportioning. Through Ibn Muqlah’s established geometric rules, the alif, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, was designated as the scale unit, its length defined by points, and from then on used for every Arabic system of calligraphy. Mastering the art of calligraphy often required years of continuous training and years of practice. Learning the various writing styles demanded strict adherence to the established rules. Many of the artists who came from classical calligraphy soon freed themselves from its strict rules and found their own individual artistic expression or turned to freeform painting. The resulting art is fascinating and diverse. Iraqi-born Hassan Massoudy is one of these. Massoudy selects poems and quotations of international poets and philosophers and writes them at the bottom edge of a sheet of paper. From these he filters out a few central words in order to convey a monumental form and thereby approximate the word with an image. Massoudy does not attempt to render a poem or epigram in a specific style of script but rather to capture its ineffable meaning and make it visible. According to Massoudy, every work of calligraphy conceals an image, which he seeks to transmit through colorful, concrete, written characters. In his calligraphic compositions, the artist lets his feelings guide him as he seeks to give expression to his inner mental state. In order to achieve

the richest possible variety of forms, Massoudy has enlarged his range of writing implements and today works mostly with palette knives of varying widths. Words originally written horizontally are shifted to the vertical, thereby not only gaining in monumentality and achieving a new form of meaning, but also creating a new aesthetic impact. Massoudy writes with sweeping gestures, quick and precise. With him, calligraphy becomes a body language that conveys his innermost thoughts. Khaled Al-Saa’i, born in Syria, studied calligraphy and painting. As with Hassan Massoudy, Arabic calligraphy is for Al-Saa’i a medium for expressing feelings, thoughts, and sensations without becoming tied to the language. He works with Arabic letters, their shapes, and their symbolic, religious, and musical origins. It is these various meanings, as well as the formal possibilities of the various writing styles, that impact his creative processes. On his numerous trips through Arab countries, Europe, and the United States, he has been inspired by cities and countryside, by landscapes and architecture, by the bustle of people in the street, and by the change of seasons, always anxious to realize his impressions through calligraphic creations. In each case he chooses a writing style that provides the best sensorial and emotional match for his impressions. Letters and words are not arranged on a straight or horizontal line but rather written densely or detached, superimposed over or below the other, interlaced or labyrinthine in the imaginary space of the canvas. Letters interwoven in this way follow their own peculiar rhythm. Highly individualistic landscapes emerge as well as pictures that depict personal feelings and sensations. Khaled Al-Saa’i exhausts the possibilities of Arabic script and turns it into abstract characters in 15

order to convey the impressions of his journeys and feelings as well as to convey its abstract essence. The Qatari artist Ali Hassan focuses almost exclusively on the Arabic letter nūn (the letter “n” in the Latin alphabet) in his pieces. Worked out on a large scale as a determining element of his pictures or in variegated modifications within the widest range of compositional structures, this letter is the main protagonist in Hassan’s work. Hassan’s choice of this single letter from the Arabic alphabet is hardly a capricious act. Each of the 28 Arabic letters holds a symbolic meaning that in mystic circles has developed into a form of cabbalistic science. The letters themselves form an important part of this symbolic language, not just in mystical and profane poetry and prose, but in calligraphy as well. For example, the letter nūn plays a role in sura 68 in the Koran, titled nun wa qalam (N and the quill). This sura has inspired the broadest interpretations by mystics. For some, it points to the godly quill that inscribes all our fates upon a tablet. For these, the quill is an important instrument in the hand of the calligrapher, whose holy task it is to transcribe the word of God. In addition, some letters are also the beginning letters of holy names and, too, possess a numerical value. Such are the considerations that have contributed to a complex system of the letters’ nexus of meaning. Like Ali Hassan, many Arab and Iranian artists are conscious of the meaning of individual letters and refer to them in their work. The artist Yousef Ahmad, who also comes from Qatar, was one of the first artists who, starting with calligraphy, freed himself the most from this discipline and very consistently found his way to freeform painting. After an education in calligraphy, Yousef Ahmad’s artistic 16

development oscillated between calligraphy and painting. From the beginning, he tried to unite the two disciplines, in contrast, for instance, to Hassan Massoudy or Khaled Al-Saa’i. What has emerged are works infused with artful lettering and painting. In his early works he used other typical elements from Islamic art besides calligraphy, such as arabesque or geometric forms. The legibility of letters, word and text has played an increasingly smaller role, while a play on forms, experimentation and the use of unusual colors and materials are foremost. Here the collage has proved to be a fitting means of arriving at certain aesthetic effects. Words and letters are only recognizable from their form and are released from their original meaning. Yousef Ahmad separates calligraphy from writing and language, transforming it into signs with their own mysterious expressiveness. In a further stage, the letters are completely disengaged from form and become movement and rhythm. The rhythmic signs fill the canvas, dance across the picture plane, combine with it, immerse themselves in it and let new, larger forms grow out of it. The Syrian artist Ahmad Moualla also studied classical calligraphy but turned at first, somewhat contrary to Yousef Ahmad, to freeform painting. He painted large canvasses with expressive and sometimes socially critical themes. During his studies in graphics and visual communication in Damascus and Paris, he sought other forms of calligraphy and developed new types of scripts. As an aficionado of Arabic poetry, Moualla had a vision one day of a room entirely devoted to Arabic poetry. In his consideration of how the interior of such a room should be designed, calligraphy again became the focus of his attention. Since then it has played a central role in his most recent work.

Of particular interest is the relationship between painting and the art of writing, especially how these two disciplines can be artistically united so that their traditional and cultural connections are made apparent. Moualla places special emphasis on transcending the graphical and decorative boundaries of Arabic script, taking up the rhythms of Arabic calligraphy and—with the possibilities offered by painting—transferring it into a new aesthetic. The legibility or illegibility of the cited words and text passages thereby becomes a game. Moualla says: “I think I have succeeded in placing the calligrapher and the painter on the same level, far removed from Sufism and metaphysics. I for myself refer entirely to modern painting in which the types or shapes of the characters, by virtue of their mere existence, suggest a playful color change. The entire process is not based on a calligraphy that wants to paint pictures or painting that seeks to write calligraphy. It is a process that hopes to revive Oriental art within modern art.” The Egyptian artist Ayman El Semary has produced a picture series that he calls Sleepless. The starting point of this series actually has a banal origin: During nights when he tossed and turned and couldn’t sleep, he imagined how his restless body must look from a bird’s-eye view. He had an assistant draw the contours of his body in the sequence of movements of different positions. Abstract compositions were the result. They are moving in their simplicity and produce picture worlds all their own. The colors El Semary uses reinforce this impression. He namely draws inspiration from the colors that in Cairo are typically found on house walls and on balcony frameworks: a washed-out pink, a pale blue, a chalky green.

Some of his works display written characters that do not represent texts, but can be understood as unconnected words like snatches of thought that circulate in one’s mind during a sleepless night. An everyday event is in this way given an unexpected context that the artist has consciously taken into account. It is about body language in its widest sense. The resulting forms refer only remotely to the coutours of an actual human body. Their abstraction takes them far beyond that. El Semary has fabricated an allusion to the Arabic alphabet, aware as he is of the symbolic meanng of arabic letteing. For example, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, alif, is seen as a person standing upright. Letters are equated with people and their qualities. Many calligraphers “treat letters like living creatures capable of entering into a dialogue that expresses ideas and emotions,” as Khaled Al-Saa’i once put it. Ayman El Semary is engaged with writing in general—not only with Arabic lettering—and calligraphy, but he deploys it in a loose sense. He avails himself of a repertoire that, in its roots, goes back to old Egyptian and Arab culture. The artist often takes small, everyday circumstances and brings them together in strange contexts. Frequently the symbols he uses are freed from their original context and imbued with new meaning. Egyptian-born artist, Georges Fikry Ibrahim, has developed a special technique for using collage in his large-scale works. Many layers of different kinds of paper are placed on a support, painted, and often decorated in gold leaf. Figures and articles from the world of objects are made so abstract that the scenes can only be guessed at. Thus only a second glance reveals the dancing world in his work The Nubian Dance, or 17

the rural scenes of The Farmer and The Carriage of the Farmer. The dominat colors, like red and fuchsia in his paintings, are often so luminous that they very aptly capture the feeling of being alive, of dancing and rejoicing. “Different pictures of natural motifs—the coastline, the desert, agriculture—are elements that require different compositions; my viewpoint, the component and their rituals prompt me to think how to paint and embody my imaginative ideas,” the artist says. “I may need some skill and different art techniques related to the different media to embody these ideas. But in general I rely on my natural capacity to record motifs and show emotional and spiritual aspects.” Egyptian culture with its roots is his major theme. Ancient writing like hieroglyphics is among the cultural and philosophical symbols he uses to show the way of life in Egyptian society. There are elements of sacred architecture and art, too, such as pyramids, temples, the royal pharaohs, tombs, icons, old Coptic monasteries, Islamic architecture, folkloric elements and narrations. But Egyptian reality is also one of his aims; it is his homeland and inspires him. He goes back to its symbols, and sometimes also its cultural, social and economic variables feature in his new works that— through contemporary media—reflect cultural and social changes. “My art is narration, expression and the memory of visual shapes,” he says. —Translated from German by Jeanne Haunschild

Karin von Roques is a noted German curator and art historian who specializes in contemporary Arab and Iranian art. From 1997 to 2000 she was the director of the Hermann Hesse Museum in Lugano, Switzerland. Von Roques has curated exhibitions for numerous institutions, including the Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt; the Kunstmuseum, Bonn; L’Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; and the Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi. She has had extensive experience developing Arab art collections, and oversees Deutsche Bank’s contemporary Arab art program. Most recently, von Roques advised Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary Arab and Iranian Art Department, London. She was a member of the international jury for the 11th International Cairo Biennale and served as a key panelist at the roundtable conference Global Art in a Global Culture at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York, in 2007.

Hassan Massoudy

Untitled, 2005, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches

Untitled, 2009, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches

Untitled, 2008, ink and pigment on paper, 29.5 x 21.7 inches

Khaled Al-Saa’i

Elevated Spirit, 2008-2009, mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 57 x 71 inches

Dialogue, 2008, mixed media on canvas, 39.4 x 59.1 inches

Untitled, 2008, mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 39 x 55.5 inches

Jazz Night, 2008, mixed media and acrylic on canvas, 38 x 58 inches

Ali Hassan

Noon 4, 2009, mixed media on canvas, 70.75 x 78.75 inches

Untitled, 2008, mixed media on paper, 22.5 x 30 inches

Noon 2, 2008, mixed media on canvas, 66.75 x 78 inches

Noon 3, 2009, mixed media on canvas, 59 x 78.5 inches

Noon 1, 2008, mixed media on canvas, 70.5 x 78.5 inches

Yousef Ahmad

Untitled, 2009, mixed media on canvas, 71 x 71 inches

Ahmad Moualla

Untitled, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 69.5 x 118 inches

Untitled, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 69.25 x 118.5 inches

Untitled, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 78.75 x 46.75 inches

Untitled, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 39.25 x 75 inches

Aymen El Semary

Deepening Quiet, 2008, acrylic, acrylic oxides on canvas, 59 x 59 inches

The Body Is Suffering, 2003, acrylic, acrylic oxides on canvas, 70.75 x 32 inches The Body Is Trying, 2003, acrylic, acrylic oxides on canvas, 70.75 x 32 inches

On Standing, 2003, acrylic, acrylic oxides on canvas, 70.75 x 32 inches Watching Fun, 2003, acrylic, acrylic oxides on canvas, 70.75 x 32 inches

The Relaxation, 2008, acrylic, acrylic oxides on canvas, 59 x 59 inches

Georges Fikry Ibrahim

The Farmer, 2006, mixed media on paper, 133.9 x 93.3 inches

The Carriage of the Farmer, 2006, mixed media on paper, 93.3 x 133.9 inches

CURRICULa VItae

Hassan Massoudy Born Najef, Iraq, 1944 Moved to Baghdad, Iraq, 1961, to study classical calligraphy, graphic arts, communication arts, and fine arts Moved to Paris, France,1969, to enroll at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts ; graduated 1975

Selected Exhibitions Arabesque : Arts of the Arab World, The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., 2009 Sciptorial, Musée d’Avranches, France, 2008 Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East, organized by the British Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2008 Hunar Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2008 October Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 2007 Centre d’Art Contemporain, Abbaye de Trizay, France, 2007 Galerie-jardin d’Anh Tuyêt, Blagnac, France, 2007 Chapelle du séminaire, Moissac, France, 2007 Eglise des Dominicains et Espace Boulat du Couvent des Minimes, Perpignan, France, 2007 Château de Villiers, Draveil, France, 2007 Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East, British Museum, London, United Kingdom, 2006 Festival Soirs en Scène sur Tarn, La Tour de la Défense, Villemur sur Tarn, 2006 Maison Joseph Perrier, Châlons en Champagne, France, 2006 Théâtre du Lierre, Paris, France, 2006 Ferme du Mousseau, Elancourt, France, 2005 Médiathèque du Pays de Mauriac, Mauriac, France, 2005 Salle André Malraux, Yerres, France, 2005 Musée Chateau Saint Jean, Nogent-le-Rotrou, France, 2005 Maison des Mémoires, Carcassonne, France, 2004 Syndicat d’Initiative, Issigeac, France, 2004 Maison de la Rencontre, Ecully, France, 2003 Maison des Arts et de la Communication, Sallaumines, France, 2003 Centre Culturel François Villon, Enghien les Bains, France, 2002 Hunar Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2002 Espace culturel François Mauriac, Sevran, France, 2002 Galerie Atelier Gustave, Paris, France, 2002 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Colombes, France, 2002 Pavillon des Arts, Mont de Marsan, France, 2001 Artothèque de Cherbourg, France, 2001 Terres d’Ecritures, Grignan, France, 2001 69

Sharja Museum, United Arab Emirates, 2001 Bibliothèque Municipale, Montbéliard, France, 2000 Artothèque, Centre Culturel, Vitré, France, 2000 Maison de la Fontaine, Brest, France, 2000 Fondation Asselah, Alger, Algérie, 1999 Sacred music festival, Dar Batha Museum, Fez, Morocco, 1999 Espace Henri Matisse, Creil, France, 1999 Centre Culturel, Saint Pierre des Corps, France, 1998 Comptoir des Ecritures , Paris, France, 1998 Centre Culturel Saint-Exupéry, Reims, France, 1997 Espace Saint Martin, Paris, France, 1997 Bibliothèque Municipale , Obernai, France, 1997 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture , Briançon, France, 1996 La Médiatine, Brussels, Belgium, 1996 Espace 110, Illzach, France, 1996 Centre Culturel, Meudon, France, 1995 La Collégiale de Saint-Pierre Le Puellier, Orléans, France, 1995 La Ferme des Arts, Vaison-la-Romaine, France, 1995 Médiathèque Municipale , Saint-Apollinaire, France, 1995 Médiathèque Municipale , Sète, France, 1995 Centre des Cultures Méditerranéennes, Belfort, France, 1994 Galerie Tammouz, Brussels, Belgium, 1994 Centre Culturel le Dôme, Albertville, France, 1994 Salle des Templiers, Montélimar, France, 1994 Bibliothèque Municipale, Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, 1994 Centre Culturel, Rungis, France, 1994 Centre Culturel, Colomiers, France, 1994 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture , Annecy-le-Vieux, France, 1993 Centre d’Action Culturelle Saint-Martial, Angoulême, France, 1993 Musée Barrois, Bar-le-Duc, France, 1993 La Galerie, Centre Multimédia , Liévin, France, 1993 Bibliothèque Municipale, Quimper, France, 1993 Maison de la Culture, Bourges, France, 1993 Palais des Congrès, Grasse, France, 1993 L’Astrolabe, La Rochelle, France, 1992 Théâtre des Sources, Avignon, France, 1992 De Balie Theater, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1991 Centre Culturel Algérien, Paris, France, 1991 70

Espace Culturel Juliette Drouet, Fougères, France, 1991 Galerie l’Art à la Page, Paris, France, 1991 Palais de l’UNESCO, Paris, France, 1990 L’Arsenal, Metz, France, 1990 ARIAP Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France, 1990 Château de Trousse-Barrière, Briare le Canal, France, 1990 Salle Al Amane, Casablanca, Morocco, 1989 A.R Galerie Art Contemporain, Brest, France, 1989 La Maison des Congrès, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 1988 Bibliothèque Max-Paul Fouchet, Givors, France, 1988 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Neuville-sur-Saône, France, 1988 Soeterijntheater, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1988 Galerie/librairie La Marge, Ajaccio, France, 1988 Centre Culturel Français, Constantine, Algeria, 1987 Bibliothèque Municipale, Lille, France, 1987 Maison de la Mutualité, Rezé, France, 1987 Galerie de Lappe, Paris, France 1988 Espace Kiron, Paris, France, 1987 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Colombes, France, 1986 Palais des Arts, Brest, France, 1986 Stedelijke Musea, Gouda, Netherlands, 1986 Signe et Calligraphie, Musée des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, Paris, France, 1986 Westfries Museum, Hoorn, Netherlands, 1986 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture des Orions, Tourcoing, France, 1986 Galerie Al Iwan, Kuwait, 1986 Mairie du 1er arrondissement, Lyon, France, 1985 Bibliothèque Municipale, Sarcelles, France, 1985 Bibliothèque Municipale, Echirolles, France 1985 Salon Inter Art, Saidia , Morocco, 1984 Orient Galerie, Paris, France, 1984 Musée Régional, Sarreguemine, France, 1984 Centre Culturel, Athis-Mons, France, 1983 Maison des Arts et de la Culture, Créteil, France, 1982 Bibliothèque Municipale, Pierrefitte, France, 1982 Musée des Beaux-Arts, Pau, France, 1981 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, 1981 Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture, Colombes, France, 1981 Maison Pour Tous, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, 1980 71

Khaled Al-Saaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i Born Syria, 1970 Certificate, calligraphy, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art, and Culture, Istanbul, Turkey, 1998 M.A., fine arts, University of Damascus, Syria, 1997 B.A., fine arts, painting, University of Damascus, Syria, 1995

Selected Solo Exhibitions French Cultural Center, Damascus, Syria, 2009 Dar Al Funoon, Kuwait, 2007 Majlis Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2007 Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2006 Pellouailles-les-Vignes, Nantes, France, 2005 Poems in Calligraphy, Majlis Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2005 Green Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2004 Arab World Institute, Paris, France, 2000 French Cultural Centre, Damascus, Syria, 2000 Atassi Gallery, Damascus, Syria. 2000 Institut Francais dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Etudes Arabes Damasc (IFEAD), Damascus, Syria, 1999 Spanish Institute, Damascus, Syria, 1996

Selected Group Exhibitions Dubai Art Fair and Creek Art Fair, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2009 Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland, 2008 Visual and Audible Art Exhibition, Sharjah Museum of Art, United Arab Emirates, 2007 San Pedro Museum of Art, Mexico, 2007 Al Bareh Art Gallery, Bahrain, 2007 Arab World Institute, Paris, France, 2006 Language of the Desert, Bonn Museum of Art, Germany, 2005 The Art of the Written Word in the Middle East, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 2005 Written Cosmos, Frankfurt Museum of Applied Art, Germany, 2004 Visual and Audible, sixth session, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2003 Slater International House, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2003 Sharjah Museum of Art, United Arab Emirates, 2002 Art and Sufism, organized by the Cervantes Institute, National Museum of Damascus, Syria; Royal Museum of Amman, Jordan; Bilad 72

Al Sham Gallery, Aleppo Syria; UNESCO Palace, Beirut, Lebanon; Granada and Seville Spain, 2001-2004 Exhibition of Syrian artists organized by the Ministry of Culture, National Museum of Art, Damascus, Syria, 1997 Biennial Almahaba Arts Festival, Latakia, Syria, 1997 Exhibition of Syrian artists organized by the Ministry of Culture, National Museum of Syria, 1991 Al Mayadin City Hall, Syria, 1987

Awards Modern calligraphy prize, third, International Calligraphy Biennial, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2008 Modern calligraphy prize, Audio-Visual Art Exhibition, Sharjah Museum of Art, United Arab Emirates First prize of Diwany Jaly, seventh International Competition of Calligraphy, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art, and Culture, Istanbul, Turkey, 2007 Classic Calligraphy Prize, second Biennial of Calligraphy in Arab World, Sharjah, UAE, 2006 First prize for Diwany Jaly script, Master Competition of Calligraphy, sponsored by Al Baraka Turk Bank, Istanbul, Turkey, 2005 First prize for modern of Arabic calligraphy, first Arabic calligraphy, first Biennial of Calligraphy in the Arab World, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2004 Diwany Jaly prize from the sixth international competition, Istanbul, Turkey, 2004 Modernity prize, Audio-Visual Festival, Sharjah Museum of Arts, United Arab Emirates, 2003 The fifth international competition on Arabic calligraphy, Diwany Jaly style, Istanbul, Turkey, 2001 Certificate of distinction, Festival of Music, Poetry and Calligraphy, Obernai, France, 2000 Prize for young artist, presented by the British Counsel, Damascus, Syria, 2000 Biennial of Young Artists, Rome, Italy, 1999 Certificate of distinction, nominated one of the 10 best international calligraphers, and first prize for Diwany Jaly style calligraphy, First International Festival of Arabic Calligraphy, Tehran, Iran, 1997

Workshops Sharjah Institute of Arts, United Arab Emirates, 2007 Free Atelier, Kuwait, 2006 Museum of Calligraphy and Ornament, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2006 Workshop and lecture, Bonn Museum of Art, Germany, 2005 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2005 Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2005 University of Michigan Museum of Arts, Ann Arbor, 2006 Technique of calligraphy, first Biennial of Calligraphy, United Arab Emirates, 2004 Workshop and lecture, Michigan Union, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2003 Workshop and exhibition, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, 2003 Workshop, lecture and exhibition, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2006 73

Centre of Arabic Calligraphy, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2002 Rhythm and forms in Arabic calligraphy, 2002 Workshop and lecture, Inma Gallery, Al Khobar City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2002 The relationship between Arabic calligraphy and plastic art, Sharjah Museum of Art, United Arab Emirates, 2002 Washtenaw Community College, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 2002 University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 2002 History of the Arabic calligraphy, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, 2002 Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2002 Spirituality of Arabic calligraphy, Islamic Centre of Canton, Michigan, 2001 Workshop with musician Khaled Jarmani, Damascus, Syria, audio-visual dialogue, 2001

Teaching Islamic Art Center, Kuwait, 2006 Arabic calligraphy and Islamic art, Centre for Islamic Arts and Calligraphy, Kuwait, 2006 Introduction to Arabic calligraphy, Centre for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, 2005 Introduction to Arabic Calligraphy, Fine Art College, Sharjah University, UAE, 2005 Arabic calligraphy and identity, in Kuwait, 2003 Arabic Calligraphy in the Islamic centre of Ann Arbor, 2003 Arabic Calligraphy, University of Michigan, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan International Institute, Ann Arbor, 2002-2003 Arabic calligraphy, Institut FranĂ§ais dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Etudes Arabes, 1997-2001 Painting and drawing, University of Damascus, Syria, 1997-1998

Lectures Arabic calligraphy and identity, Plastic Art Society, Kuwait, 2003 Relationship between Arabic language and Arabic calligraphy, Arabic Circle, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2001 Arabic calligraphy, Middlebury College, Middelbury, Vermont, 2001 Artist expression of Arabic calligraphy, Arabic Circle, Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2001 Sufism and calligraphy, National Museum of Art, Damascus, Syria, 2001

Ali Hassan Born Doha, Qatar, 1956 Studied history, Qatar University, 1982 and 1984 Workshop, Arabic and Islamic Restoration Legacy, University of Louvain, Belgium Chairman, Youth Creative Art Centre and Girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Creativity Art Centre, Doha, Qatar, 2004 to 2008

Selected Solo Exhibitions The Japan Foundation Forum, Tokyo, Japan, 2003 Bissan Gallery, Doha, Qatar, 2001 and 2005 The National Gallery, 2004 Fashion Arts Association, Kuwait, 2000 The National Centre for Arabic Arts Calligraphy, Tunisia, 2000 Festival Palace, Cannes, France, 1992 Qatar University, Doha, 1987

Selected Group Exhibitions Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas, 2008 Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, Zurich, Switzerland, 2008 British Museum Collection, Dubai Market for the Arts, 2008 Albareh Art Gallery, Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain, 2007 ArtParis Abu Dhabi Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, United Arab Emirates, 2007 Contemporary Gulf Art, Bonn, Germany, 2005 Contemporary Arabic Art, Spain, 2003-2004 The 10th International India Triennial, New Delhi, 2001 New York, Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, 1996 The Asian Art Biennial, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1986-1997 International Cairo Ciennial, Egypt, 1984-1998

Selected Awards State Award for Plastic Art, Doha, Qatar, 2005 Appreciation Award, Print Triennial, Egypt, 2003 Al Dana Award, Kuwait, 2000 Merit Award, UNICEF, 1995 75

Jury prize, Sharjah Art Biennial, United Arab Emirates, 1993 Golden Palm Award, Gulf Cooperation Council Art Exhibition, Qatar, 1992-1999

Public Collections Los Angeles District Museum The British Museum, London, United Kingdom Chuan Art Museum Jordanian National Gallery of Fine Arts Sharjah Art Museum, United Arab Emirates Qatar National Museum The Museum of Modern Arab Art, Doha, Qatar Museum of Contemporary Graphic Art, Cairo, Egypt The Ritz Carlton The Sheraton The Four Seasons The Al Bustan The Marriott Hotel

Yousef Ahmad Born Doha, Qatar, 1955 B.A., arts and education, Helwan University, Egypt M.F.A., fine arts, California Art consultant, Hewar Art Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Art consultant, Contemporary Art Museum, Qatar Foundation

Selected Solo Exhibitions The Movement (to mark the 30th anniversary of the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first solo exhibition in Qatar), 2007 VCV University Gallery, Doha, Qatar, 2004 Ahmad Al-Adwani Gallery, Kuwait City, Kuwait, 2003 French Cultural Centre, Doha, Qatar, 2003 Qatar Association of Plastic Arts, Doha, Qatar, 2000 Gandhir Gallery, Kuwait, 1994 Doha, 1983 Washington, 1982 Buffalo, New York, 1980-1981 Doha, Qatar, 1977

Selected Group Exhibitions Art Paris, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2008 Istanbul Sculptures Symposium, Turkey, 2008 Art Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2007, 2008 Al Kharafi Biennial for Contemporary Arab Art, Kuwait, 2006 Language of the Desert, Bonn Museum of Modern Art, Germany, 2005 and Arab World Institute, Paris, 2006 Tehran First International Biennial of Islamic Arts, Iran, 2000 Arabian Peninsula Artists, Amman, Jordan, 2000 Bangladesh Seventh Contemporary Asian Art Exhibition, Dhaka, 1999 Fifth Periodic Exhibition of Plastic Arts and Calligraphy, Doha, Qatar, 1999 Sharjah Fourth Biennial, United Arab Emirates, 1999 New Delhi Triennial, India, 1998 Guest of honor, Sharjah First Biennial, United Arab Emirates,1992 Second Exhibition of Gulf Cooperation Council Artists, 1991 Ankara Third International Euro-Asian Art Exhibition, 1990 77

Norway World Engraving Triennial, 1989 First Exhibition of Gulf Cooperation Council Artists, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, 1989 Contemporary Islamic Art Exhibition, Barbican Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 1989 Arab Calligraphers-Artists Exhibition, London, United Kingdom, 1989 Havana World Biennial, Cuba, 1989 Second International Plastic Arts Festival, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988 Ankara Second International Euro-Asian Arts Biennial, Turkey, 1988 First Arab Week Exhibition, London, United Kingdom, 1988 Gulf Cooperation Council Art Friends Exhibitions, 1985-1995: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Doha, Riyadh, Manama, Jeddah, Kuwait, Jordan, Damascus, Bonn, Washington, Cairo, Tunis, Madrid, Dominican Republic, Muscat Cairo Biennial, Egypt, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 Arab Calligraphers-Artists Exhibition, Grapheti Gallery, London, United Kingdom, 1984 Media exhibitions held by the Ministry of Information during official visits of H.H. Prince of Qatar to Pakistan, India, South Korea, Ankara, Istanbul, Madrid, London, Paris, Cairo, Damascus, 1984-1990 Omani Youth Exhibition, 1983 Arab Calligraphers-Artists Exhibition, Iraq Cultural Centre, London, United Kingdom, 1983 Second Gulf Exhibition, Baghdad, Iraq, 1982 Exhibitions of Qatari Plastic Arts Association, 1980-2006 Sculpture World Conference, Washington, 1980 The First Gulf Exhibition, Doha, Qatar, 1980 The Three Friends Exhibitions, 1977, 1978, 1980 Afro Arab Artists Gathering Exhibition, Tunis, 1977 The Exhibitions of the Ministry of Culture and Information, London and Paris, 1977, Tunis, 1978 22 February Exhibition, Doha, Qatar, 1977 The Second General Plastic Art Exhibition, Doha, Qatar, 1976 The Final-Year Exhibition at the College of Art Education, Cairo, Egypt, 1976 Second Arab Biennial, Rabat, Morocco, 1976 First Cairo-based Qatari Students Exhibition, Egypt, 1975 The Roaming Arab League Exhibition, 1974 First Arab Biennial, Baghdad, Iraq, 1974 Arab Biennial, Kuwait, 1973-1985 The General Exhibition, Gulf Hotel, 1973 Modern art exhibition, Al Jesrah Cultural and Social Club, 1973 The permanent exhibition, Al Jesrah Cultural and Social Club, 1972

Awards Referees’ Award, Al Kharafi First International Biennial of Contemporary Arab Art, Kuwait, 2006 Abha Art Prize, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2000 Gold Palm-Leaf, Fifth Exhibition of Gulf Cooperation Council Artists Exhibition, Doha, Qatar, 1999 Referees’ Award, Cairo Seventh Biennial, 1998 Special recognition, Sharjah Third Biennial, by H. H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Referees’ Award, Cairo Sixth Biennial, Egypt,1996 Gold Palm-Leaf, Fourth Gulf Cooperation Council Artists Exhibition, Kuwait, 1996 First prize, First Tourist Exhibition, Doha, Qatar, 1993 Gold Palm-Leaf, Second Gulf Cooperation Council Artists Exhibition, 1991 Gold Palm-Leaf, First Gulf Cooperation Council Artists Exhibition, 1989 Referees’ Award, Ankara International Biennial, Turkey,1986 Third prize, bronze medal, Cairo Second Biennial, Egypt, 1986 First prize, Baghdad Festival, Iraq, 1986 Second prize, Gulf Air Competition, 1984 Three certificates of recognition, Arab Biennial Exhibition I, Kuwait, 1975, 1977, 1985

Collections Commercial Bank, Qatar, 2008 Al Faisal Group, Doha, Qatar, 2007 The German Bank, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2006 Qatar International Bank, 2004 Sharjah Arts Museum, United Arab Emirates Shoman Institute, Amman, Jordan, 2000 Kindah Institute, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1999 Sheikh Hasan bin Mohamed bin Ali Al Thani, project of the Arab Museum for Modern Art, 1994 Islamic Studies Centre, Istanbul, Turkey, 1993 An Attempt for Solitude, The Jordanian Museum for Modern Arts, 1990 Peace, Hiroshima Museum, Japan, 1989 International Museum of Engravings, Asilah, Morocco, 1985 An engraved work on Qatar, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1982 Ministry of Information and Culture, since 1978 The Tailor Woman, Contemporary Arab Art Museum, Damascus, 1972

AHMAD MOUALLA Born Syria, 1958 Graduate, Visual Communication, Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus University, Syria, 1981 Graduate, École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France, 1981 Professor, Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus University, Syria, 1989-1996

Selected Solo Exhibitions Ahmad Moualla’s Orient, Sultan Gallery, Kuwait, 2008 An Homage to Antoine Maqdessi and Antoine Al-Jammal, Art House Gallery, Damascus, Syria, 2007 Al Riwaq Gallery, Bahrain, 2007 Ahmad Moualla, Artist Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey, 2006 Clay, Country Exhibition, the German Cultural Institute (Goethe Institut), Damascus, Syria, 2004 Private exhibition, National Board of Culture, Art & Literature, Kuwait, 2001 An Homage to Saadallah Wannous, Bahrain National Museum, 1998 Private Experimentations, Green Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 1998 An Homage to Saadallah Wannous, Atassi Gallery, Damascus, Syria, 1997 Painting of Ra’s Al Mamluk Jabir Book, UNESCO, Paris, France, 1996 Remains of a Human Combustion, Brazil Café, Cham Palace Hotel, Damascus, Syria, 1996-1997 Miró in Three Dimensions, French Cultural Center, Damascus, Syria, 1994-1995 Trials in Colors, French Cultural Center, Damascus, Syria, 1993-1994 Experimentations, Mar Gallery, Latakia, Syria, 1990 Experimentations, Atassi Gallery, Homs, Syria, 1990 Experimentations, Bilad Al-Cham Gallery, Aleppo, Syria, 1990 Experimentations, Bilad Al-Cham Gallery, Damascus, Syria, 1990 Syria Ahmad Moualla, Urnina Gallery, Damascus, Syria, 1988

Selected Group Exhibitions Retrospective of Fine Arts in Syria III, Damascus, 2008 Syria’s Modern Art, Souk Waqef Gallery, Qatar, 2008 Beyond Words, Galerie Kashya Hildebrand, Zurich, Switzerland, 2008 Stiria Meet Syria, Neo Gallery, Gratz, Austria, 2007 Even War Has Its Limits and Women and War, exhibitions by the Red Cross, Damascus, Syria, and Geneva, Switzerland, 2001-2002 A Glimpse at Modern Arab Art, Kindah Group, Arab World Institute, Paris, France, 2002 Modern Syrian Art, Arab World Institute, Paris, France, 2001 80

Experience in Old Cairo with an invitation from The International Critique Association Experimental-critique seminar about Kom Ghourab, Cairo, Egypt, 1996 Cairo International Biennale, Egypt, 1996 Sharjah Biennale, artistic workshops and participation, 1995 World Artists, an international exhibition visiting world capitals, 1995

Juries Photographing the Mediterranean Sea Contest with the European Union, 2004 Graphic Biennale of the Islamic World, Tehran, Iran, 2004 Damascus International Film Festival, Syria, 2003 International Symposium, Emaar, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2003 Damascus International Exhibition: Lottery Card Contest, 2001-2007 Damascus International Exhibition: Best Poster Contest, 2001-2007 Think With Your Hand Contest, Cervantes Institute, Damascus, Syria, 1998 Gulf Cooperation Council Exhibition, 1996

Awards Burda prize (first prize), Arabic calligraphy (the modern method), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2007 Grand prize, Latakia Biennale, Syria, 1999 Best Outdoor Poster, Munich, Germany, 1988 First prize, Kieler Woche Contest, Germany, 1988

Scenography Television: The Boxthorn, The Death Coming to the East, Al-Kawasser, Ser Al-Nawwar, Al-Zir Salem Theatre: Man to Man, Voices of Depths, A Long Birthday Night, Kahrab, Sour Grapes, The Blinds Film: Layla and the Wolf, Verbal Letters, Sandouq Al-Dunia (Box of the Universe), What the Audience Wants, Under the Ceiling, Dhulm (Years of Torment)

Ayman El Semary Born Kafr Shukr-Kalubia, Egypt, 1965 M.A., painting, Helwan University, Egypt, 1995 Ph.D., art education, painting department, Helwan University, Egypt, 2001 The faculty of art education Member, Cairo & Alexandria Atelier for Artists & Writers Member, Plastic Artists Syndicate

Selected Solo Exhibitions Alexandria International Symposium, Sculpture in Natural Materials, Egypt, 2008 Townhouse On Site gallery, Sequoia, Zamalek, Egypt, 2007 Ebdaa Art Gallery, Mohandeseen, Giza, Egypt, 2007 The American University in Cairo, Egypt, 2007 Gezira Art Center , Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt, 2006 Albertini Academy, Torino, Italy, 2005 The Egyptian and Swiss flat countries with artist Romano Delakezia, Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt, 2004 Chamber drawings sequences, Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, Egypt, 2003 Ekhnaton 1 Gallery, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt, 2003 The Egyptian Academy in Rome, Italy, 2002 Kamal Khalifa Gallery, Gezira Art Center, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt, 2002 Chamber drawings, Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, Egypt, 2001 Installation, Cairo Atelier, Zamalek Arts Complex, Egypt, 2001 Ekhnaton 3 Gallery, Gezira Art Center, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt, 2000 Chamber drawings, Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, Egypt, 1999 The Greek Cultural Corporation Gallery, Alexandria, Egypt, 1999 Chamber drawings, Cairo Atelier, Zamalek Arts Complex, Egypt, 1997 Ekhnaton 3 Gallery, Gezira Art Center, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt, 1997 Myth sequences, Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, 1996 Cairo Atelier, Zamalek Arts Complex, Egypt,1995 Sports Club gallery, Kafr Shukr, Egypt, 1995 Earth mythology, Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, Egypt, 1994 Sports Club gallery, Kafr Shukr, Egypt, 1986

Selected Group Exhibitions The Present Out of the Past Millenniaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Contemporary Egyptian Art, Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany, 2007 The Venice Biennale, 2007 Imagining the Book, International Biennial Alexandria, Bibliotheca Alexandria, Egypt, 2006 Contemporary Egyptian art, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2006 Contemporary Egyptian art, Algeria, 2006 Contemporary Egyptian art, Prague, Czech Republic, 2005 Imagining the Book, International Biennial Alexandria, Bibliotheca Alexandria, Egypt 2005 Form through Light, Ramadan, Palace of Art, Cairo, 2004 Imagining the Book, International Biennial Alexandria, Bibliotheca Alexandria, Egypt, 2004 Alexandria International Biennial, The Museum of Fine Arts, Alexandria, Egypt, 2003 Portrait, Bibliotheca Alexandria, Egypt, 2003 Twentieth-Century Panoramaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;100 artists in Egypt, Bibliotheca Alexandria, Egypt, 2003 Contemporary Egyptian art, Al-Nitaq Festival of Art, Gresham Hotel, Cairo, Egypt, 2002 National exhibition, Palace of Art, Cairo, Egypt, 2001 Al-Nitaq Festival of Art, The Greek Club, Cairo, Egypt, 2000 Workshop in Luxor studios, Egypt, 2000 Espace Karim Francis Contemporary Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt, 2000 The International Dubrovnik Biennial, Croatia, 1999 Shell Company Gallery, Misr el-Gedida, Egypt, 1998 Cairo International Biennial, Egypt, 1998 T-shirt, Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt, 1998 Cairo International Biennial in Ceramics, Egypt, 1998 Zeno X Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany, 1998 Cairo Atelier Salon, Egypt, 1997 Mashrabia Gallery, Cairo, Egypt, 1997 Youth Salon, 2nd to 10th, salons, Cairo, Egypt, beginning in 1990 National Exhibition, Center of Arts, Cairo Egypt, 1996 Alexandria Atelier, Egypt, 1994

Participation Eighteenth Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt, 2006 Graphic workshop in conjunction with national exhibition of graphic art, Palace of Art, Cairo, Egypt, 2005 Workshop on the contemporary Egyptian painting, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, 2004 Jury member, 16th Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt, 2004 The fourth Conference of Plastic Arts, thesis titled Contemporary Egyptian Art and Postmodern Arts, Egypt, 2004 83

The international workshop for Imagining the Book, 120 international artists, Bibliotheca Alexandria, Egypt, 2003

Awards Honor prize and bronze medal, Alexandria Biennial, Egypt, 2003 The best partition prize, International Dubrovnik Biennial, Croatia, 1999 The jury prize, installation, 10th Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt, 1998 Second prize, painting, 9th Youth Salon, 1997 Grand prize, International Union for Plastic Arts Critiques (AIKA), scholarship for three months in art studios in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1997 Grand prize (Golden Ekhnaton), 7th Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt, 1995

Collections The Museum of Modern Art, Cairo, Egypt Cultural development box, 2000 Private collection, Germany, 2008

Georges Fikry Ibrahim Born Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt Graduated with honors, Helwan University, Egypt, 1986 Demonstrator, art education, Helwan University, Egypt, 1987 M.A., art education, 1994 Assistant instructor, art education sciences, 2000 P.h.D., art education philosophy, 2000 Instructor, art education sciences, 2000 Assistant professor, art education, 2006

Selected Solo Exhibitions The American University in Cairo, Egypt, 2007 Albertini Academy, Torino â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Italy, 2005 Chamber drawings sequences, Zamalek Arts Complex , Cairo, Egypt, 2003 The Egyptian Academy in Rome, Italy, 2002 Chamber drawings, Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, Egypt, 2001 Chamber drawings, Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, Egypt, 1999 Chamber drawings, Cairo Atelier, Egypt, 1997 Myth sequences, Zamalek Arts Complex , Cairo, Egypt, 1996 Earth mythology, Zamalek Arts Complex, 1994

Selected Group Exhibitions Masterpieces Collective, Zamalek Art Gallery, Cairo, Egypt, 2009 International Dakar Biennial, Senegal, 2008 Venice Biennale, Egyptian Pavilion, Italy, 2007 Contemporary Egyptian art, Alicante, Spain, 2007 Contemporary Egyptian art, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany, 2007 El Arousa, Ahmed Shawki Museum, Cairo, Egypt, 2007 Contemporary Egyptian art, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2006 International Cairo Biennial, Egypt, 2006 Art and Soul, contemporary Egyptian and Korean art, Palace of Art, Cairo, Egypt, 2005 Egyptian Cultural Center in Rome, Italy, 2005 Twenty-ninth National Exhibition in Commemoration of 100 years of Egyptian Plastic Arts, nominated by the Ministry of Culture and faculty of art education Helwan University, Palace of Art, art education faculty, Cairo, Egypt, 2005 85

First International Alexandria Biennial for Artists’ Book, Egypt, 2004 Stars’ Salon, in conjunction with the sixth Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt, 2004 Contemporary Egyptian art, in conjunction with the Frankfurt International Book Fair, Germany, 2004. Silver Jubilee, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Zamalek Arts Complex, Cairo, Egypt, 2002 Contemporary Egyptian art, Tunisia, 2001 Contemporary Egyptian art, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 2000 Commissioner of a contemporary Egyptian art and dialogue on the paradoxes of contemporary Egyptian art at the beginning of the 21st century, United Arab Emirates, 2000 Contemporary Egyptian art, Jordan, 1999. Contemporary Egyptian art, Qatar, 1999 Dream mythology, Italian Cultural Center, Cairo, Egypt, 1997 Contemporary Egyptian art, Pakistan, 1997 Little Works Salon, Cairo, Egypt, 1998-2004 The National Exhibition for Fine Arts, Cairo, Egypt, 1997-2003 Contemporary Egyptian art, Vienna, Austria, 1995. Homeland X 1 Society, Cairo, Egypt, 1993-1995 Youth Salon, Cairo, Egypt, 1989 Pioneers Exhibition, Cairo, Egypt, 1989-1995

Memberships Plastic Arts Syndicate Art Educators Union Union of the Graduates of Art Education Higher Institute Art and Artwork Instructors Union Writes and Artists League, Cairo Atelier Egyptian Society for Folklore Arts National Society of Fine Arts International Society of Education Through Art Nation X 1 Society Committee collecting and documenting information on Egyptian plastic arts Suzanne Mubarak arbitration committee for children’s literature Egyptian section, International Association of Art National Book Project Committee

Sundaram Tagore Gallery New York, installation, October, 2009

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First published in the United States of America in 2009 by Sundaram Tagore Gallery President & curator: Sundaram Tagore Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Hong Kong: Faina Goldstein Assistant director, Beverly Hills: Rebecca Constanzo Designer: Russell Whitehead Printer: Printed in Iceland by Oddi Printing

Art consultants: Joanna Berman Diana d’Arenberg Joseph Lawrence Ben Rosenblatt

Cover image: Ahmad Moualla, Untitled (detail), 2009, acrylic on canvas, 39.25 x 79 inches Text © Karin von Roques Photographs © Sundaram Tagore Gallery © Sundaram Tagore Gallery All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.