In a region of twenty-two countries spanning from North Africa to the Gulf, distinct from one another, but sharing the same language, overlapping histories, and a dominant religion, is there a common cultural link? In the exhibition, Arabicity | Ourouba, curator Rose Issa explored that question through the work of seventeen Arab artists whose art reflects the aesthetic, conceptual, and socio-political concerns of their generation.
“Arabicity” is the English term Issa coined from the Arabic word Ourouba, translated roughly as “the state of being Arab.” It is a theme she has interrogated over her long career based in London as a curator, writer, producer, and champion of visual art and film from the Middle East. Her work aims to counter stereotypes and cliches long held by Western audiences about a largely misrepresented and musunderstood region.
In this, Issa’s first Washington, D.C. exhibition, she presented artists who use distinct forms to address many of the concerns facing the Arab world today. They include political, social, economic and environmental challenges, playing out against a backdrop of political upheaval and growing demands for greater justice, freedom, and opportunity from an exploding youth population.
Across mediums that ranged from painting and sculpture to installation and video, the artists in this exhibition drew upon a multitude of influences, such as pop culture, folk art, Sufi poetry, and everyday found objects to reflect on their personal experiences. Their works convey themes of memory, history, identity, war, and justice, while also capturing the humanity, richness, and resilience of the region’s artists and people.
Adel Abidin, Chant Avedissian, Ayman Baalbaki, Said Baalbaki, Khaled Barakeh, Anas AlBraehe, Tagreed Darghouth, Hassan Hajjaj, Fathi Hassan, Susan Hefuna, Abdul Rahman Katanani, Youssef Nabil, Mahmoud Obaidi, Khalil Rabbah, Raeda Saadeh, Batoul S’Himi, and Sharif Waked
An interview with curator Rose Issa on the inaugural exhibit at the MEI Art Gallery and why an understanding of the region’s arts and culture are important to the policy discourse in Washington, DC.
Embedded within Arabicity | Ourouba was “Perpetual Identities,” a pop-up show of works by Lebanese artist Katya Traboulsi. The series consists of hand-crafted replicas of bombshells used in the Lebanese civil war, each adorned with the designs and iconography associated with the artistic traditions of 21 featured countries. The sculpted, ornamented forms transform weapons of war into objects of beauty, representing the power of art to transcend violence and destruction.
A discussion about how new dynamics are influencing the role of cultural institutions in supporting the work of artists, musicians, filmmakers and others; the opportunities and challenges artists face; and the trends and priorities shaped by a new generation of cultural producers.
A screening of the award-winning documentary Ghost Hunting by acclaimed Palestinian director Raed Andoni. The film explores the hidden trauma of Palestinians who passed through the notorious Al Moskobyia detention center in Jerusalem, where Andoni was himself jailed at age 18. Andoni asks former prisoners to rebuild the center where they were detained, and in the process, digs deep into their memories to recreate the experience of their incarceration.
A pop-up show of works by Lebanese artist Katya Traboulsi on exhibit through November 22. Embedded in MEI’s current exhibition, Arabicity/Ourouba, Traboulsi’s series consists of hand-crafted replicas of bombshells used in the Lebanese civil war, each adorned with the designs and iconography associated with the artistic traditions of 21 featured countries.
