May 31–October 29, 2017
The Barjeel Art Foundation’s 2017 exhibition programme includes displays of the collection at prominent art institutions in France, the United States, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. These upcoming partnerships build on several significant exhibitions and events which took place worldwide in 2016, including a ground-breaking exhibition of Arab and Iranian modernism at Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Art (The Sea Suspended, curated by Barjeel’s Karim Sultan); a show exploring the Arab lettrist movement; hurufiyya, in Egypt’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Hurufiyya: Art and Identity); the largest single exhibition of works from the Barjeel Art Collection, The Short Century, curated by Barjeel’s Suheyla Takesh and Karim Sultan, a historical and thematic survey of Arab modernism from the 20th Century at the Sharjah Art Museum; and the final iteration of four-part exhibition Imperfect Chronology at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, curated by Omar Kholeif.
Upcoming programmes for 2017 include:
Lines of Subjectivity: Portrait and Landscape Paintings from the Collection of Barjeel Art Foundation
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan
Until May 31, 2017
Curated by Barjeel’s Suheyla Takesh and Dr. Khalid Khreis of the Jordan National Gallery, Lines of Subjectivity features a selection of modernist works from the first half of the 20th century that explore a range of styles and approaches to landscape and portraiture. The exhibition highlights key works by artists such as Mahmoud Said, Faik Hassan, Saliba Douaihy, Huguette Caland and Marguerite Nakhla.
Chefs-D’œuvre de L’art Moderne et Contemporain Arabe
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Until July 2, 2017
Drawing attention to the contextual framework of art collections, this exhibition probes the relationship between the storage, display and curation of artwork. Curated by Philippe van Cauteren, artistic director of S.M.A.K. Belgium and Barjeel curator Karim Sultan, the exhibition’s scenography and concept takes viewers through the different facets of exhibition-making and highlights the role of collections in the construction of art history.
Modern Art from the Middle East
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, USA
Until July 16, 2017
As the first exhibition of modern art from Barjeel’s collection in the United States, this collaboration with Yale University presents a selection of works by artists from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria between 1950s to 1980s. Co-curated by Yale’s Dr. Frauke V. Josenhans, the Horace W. Goldsmith Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Dr. Kishwar Rizvi, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture and Barjeel’s Mandy Merzaban, the exhibition highlights modernist movements in these countries as part of a global dialogue and exchange of ideas.
Beloved Bodies II
Barjeel Art Foundation, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE
Until October 4, 2017
Presenting the second iteration of works drawn from Barjeel’s collection centering on the themes of the body, this exhibition surveys a range of largely contemporary works that explore representations and invocations of the corporeal across a range of media and subjects. Curated by Barjeel’s Mandy Merzaban, the exhibition includes works by Ghada Amer, Hayv Kahraman, Ali Cherri, Nadia Ayari, Jafar Islah and Zoulikha Bouabdellah.
No to the Invasion: Breakdowns and Side Effects
CCS Bard Galleries, Hessel Museum of Art, New York, USA
June 24–October 29, 2017
Featuring a series of works produced from 1990 to present, No to the Invasion: Breakdowns and Side Effects observes the socio-political and economic histories of the Arabic-speaking world across a range of media and subjectivities. Curated by Fawz Kabra with the curatorial advisory of Barjeel’s Mandy Merzaban, the exhibition explores the notion of invasion from a variety of vantage points and encounters.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Megan McCann, SUTTON
megan [at] suttonpr.com / T +44 (0) 207 183 3577
About the Barjeel Art Foundation
The Barjeel Art Foundation is an independent, United Arab Emirates-based initiative established to manage, preserve and exhibit a private collection of modern and contemporary Arab art. The foundation’s guiding principle is to contribute to the intellectual development of the art scene in the Arab region by building a prominent, publicly accessible art collection in the UAE and online. Part of this objective involves developing a public platform to foster critical dialogue around contemporary art practices with a focus on artists with Arab heritage internationally. Barjeel Art Foundation exhibits locally in Sharjah, and internationally through loans and curated exhibitions, most recently Imperfect Chronology at Whitechapel Gallery in London, and The Sea Suspended at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran.
