al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has released five newly digitized archival collections, which are now accessible online. Part of the Arab Art Archive initiative, these materials extend the global availability of primary research documents on modern Arab art hosted through NYU Libraries’ archival collections portal. The collections include exhibition materials, published writings, press clippings, and photographs from key artists, including Rafa Nasiri and May Muzaffar, Ahmad Nawash, Hanaa Malallah, Salah Taher, and Mahmoud Hammad. Unpublished digitized writings are accessed onsite.
The Arab Art Archive—now surpassing 45,000 digital scans and expanding—emerges from sustained negotiations with artists, estates, and custodians of private collections, ensuring these materials are preserved and made publicly available. By digitizing previously inaccessible records, the project actively intervenes in the historical gaps that have long shaped the study of modern Arab art. As access to knowledge becomes increasingly defined by digital infrastructures, Salwa Mikdadi, Director and Principal Investigator of al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, emphasizes the urgency of archival visibility to ensure equitable access to the collections. Under her direction, the Center prioritizes ethical approaches to digital preservation, creating a publicly accessible and critically engaged resource for researchers, curators, and artists.
Beyond digitization, the Center sustains a research ecosystem that includes an extensive library of Arabic-language books and rare periodicals, an online platform for archival discourse (Sawt al-Arsheef), and a publication series of translated artist memoirs and texts. The Arab Art Archive also functions as a pedagogical tool, anchoring courses in art history, curation, and cultural studies at NYUAD, while informing public programs in collaboration with UAE universities and art institutions.
With six additional collections currently undergoing digitization, the Center continues its commitment to expanding access to primary documents that shape the global discourse on modern Arab art.
About al Mawrid Arab Center
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art is a research center and archive at NYUAD dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the visual arts of the Arab world. Founded in 2020 on principles of dialogue and collaboration, the Center’s research interrogates the concepts, practices, and institutions of education and display developed by Arab artists in response to immense transformations in the 20th century. Through a range of activities that include fellowships, research projects, conferences, and publications, as well as the construction of a unique free open-access digital archive, al Mawrid is a significant resource for scholars, independent researchers, and educational and art institutions. The Center operates under the NYUAD Research Institute and works in collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Division.
*Image above: Umm Kulthum (1898–1975) watching Egyptian Artist Salah Taher (1911–2007) paint her portrait, Cairo. From the Salah Taher Collection, Arab Art Archive, al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, New York University Abu Dhabi.*
