88 artists celebrate the birth of Arab Abstraction over 50 years ago

Under the patronage of the Minister of Information and the State Minister of Youth Affairs: Sheikh Salman Al Sabah

Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait proudly presents “Tajreed Part I: A Selection of Arab Abstract Art”, one of the biggest retrospectives that celebrate and map the abstract movement in the Arab world by featuring the works of 88 Arab artists during the Modern period. Covering artists born between 1908 and 1960, the first chapter of the exhibition presents a panorama of selectedartists and artworks chosen for their abstract nature. The show sheds light on an artistic production that culminated over 50 years of Arab art, but needs to be revisited and further researched after 3 decades of oblivion and neglect.

Seventy years after its irruption in the mid 1940’s, the mysteries around the birth of abstraction in Arab art remain a challenge. A mutation has happened in different cities simultaneously within a timeframe of remarkable brevity: Saloua Raouda Choucair started experimenting her modular paintings in Beirut in 1946, paralleled with published articles about her theories of abstraction in 1951. Hamed Abdallah executed his first “papier froissé” or “Crumbled paper “ abstract compositions in the same year 1946 in Cairo, while Ramses Younan was testing abstract drawings in watercolors as early as 1947. Iraqi artist Madiha Omar published a thesis on the abstract dimensions of Arabic calligraphy in Washington D.C., at the Corcoran Institute in 1949, while her compatriot Jamil Hammoudi was painting his curvilinear compositions in Paris in 1949. For the first time, Arab artists were producing art within which the references to the visible world disappeared. So far, there were no precedents in the Middle East, although abstract art in the West goes back to 1910. And while technological progress and scientific knowledge can elucidate the mysteries of birth of Western abstraction, it is clear that on the Arab front, the adoption of this artistic revolutionary movement was more of an identitarian issue and a statement of modernity and progressiveness. In addition to those 5 artists, the exhibition will illustrate and honor the works of many Arab artists during that generation.

List of Artists:

Shafic Abboud, Hamed Abdallah, Mustafa Abdel-Moati, Mohamed Abla, Etel Adnan, Adonis, Yousef Ahmed, Mohammed Al Ameri, Dia Al Azzawi, Saleh Al Jumaie, Sheikh Rashid Al Khalifa, Shakir Hassan Al Said, Safwan Al-Ayoubi, Wijdan, Munira Al-Kazi, Abdullatif Al-Smoudi, Himat Ali, Farid Aouad, Yvette Ashkar, Fadi Barrage,Michel Basbous, Farid Belkahia, Fouad Bellamine, Mahjoub Ben Bella, Abdallah Benanteur, Kamal Boullata, Hassan Bourqia, Huguette Caland, Mounir Canaan,Naseer Chaura, Ahmed Cherkaoui, Ahmed Chibrine, Chaouki Choukini, Mahmoud Daadouch, Salem Dabbagh, Jafaar Dashti, Rashid Diab, Saliba Douaihy Mohanna Durra, Saeed El Adawi, Amine El Bacha, Jumana El Husseini, Rafik El Kamel, Helen ElKhal, Moustafa Fathi, Ismail Fattah, Paul Guiragossian, George Guv, Farid Haddad, Samia Halaby, Mahmoud Hammad, Jamil Hammoudi, Adam Henein, Farouk Hosny, Taha Hussein, Jafar Islah, Mohammed Kacimi, Fouad Kamel, Elie Kanaan, Mohammed Khadda, Jean Khalifeh, Mohammed Omar Khalil, Hussein Madi, Hanaa Malallah, Mohammed Melihi, Jamil Molaeb, Fateh Moudarres, Mehdi Moutashar, Mohamad Muhraddine, Abdullah Murad, Nazir Nab’a, Nabil Nahas, Rafa Nasiri Madiha Omar, Saloua Raouda Choucair,Mohammad Rawas, Aref Rayess Nizar Sabour, Nadia Saikaly, Faisal Samra, Mona Saudi, Juliana Seraphim, Hassan Sharif, Nabil Shehadeh, Nasser Soumi, Hanibal Srouji, Gebran Tarazi and Ramses Younan.

This exhibition is curated by Saleh Barakat in collaboration with Contemporary Art Platform.

Date: March 27 – May 27, 2013. Opening Reception: Wednesday, March 27th 2013. Time: 7:00 PM

]]> http://capkuwait.com/2013/03/21/tajreed-a-selection-of-arab-abstract-art-1908-1960-27-of-march-2013-2/feed/ 0 http://capkuwait.com/2013/02/05/body-variances-exposed-in-kuwait/ http://capkuwait.com/2013/02/05/body-variances-exposed-in-kuwait/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:56:45 +0000 admin http://capkuwait.com/?p=1794 “Wonderful!” said more than one person describing artworks in ‘Body Variances Five European Sculptors exhibition! Opening last night in Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) in collaboration with Mark Hachem Gallery, many people were captivated with the variety and beauty of sculptures; that a lady, pointing at Polles work, said ‘I wish there is an atelier to learn how to do something so superb like that!’

Body Variances features 40 artworks by: Anne De Vilemejane, Arman, Martin C. Herbst, Mauro Corda and Polles reflecting how they view our body’s different reactions and actions on daily matters and sudden happenings in five different contemporary visions and approaches

It was interesting to see visitors interact with each artwork, share their different perspectives on it, discuss various point of views on Arman “renaissance yet genius” three sculptures, the “marvelously intellectual” works of Mauro Corda, Polles “spectacular” 3 dimensional abstract and Martin Herbst’s “strange and sad yet beautiful” locked round figure on a pillow. The cutting edge, contemporary pieces surely expose new approaches on how artists look at human’s body  and provide an inspiring & influencing opportunity to Kuwait’s art lovers to understand this figure & it’s relation in our world.

If you couldn’t make it last night, the exhibition is running until March 4^th, 2013. To view photos of Body Variances opening night, click https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.370767563021406.78331.105491759548989&type=1 .

Wim Wender

On Wednesday, January 30th, CAP viewed ‘Edward Hopper | The Blanc Canvas’ from the weekly Artists Documentary Series film screening that aims to focus and educate about influential, established artists by highlighting their achievements in the art scene and what they added.

This documentary reveals the keys to understanding the work, by re-establishing it in its social and cultural context, and bears witness to Hopper’s fierce independence as a painter well aware of the artistic stakes of his time, split between realism and abstraction.

To be the first to know about our upcoming events or activities – workshops, film screening… etc - subscribe to newsletter. Don’t forget to ask about CAP Membership when you pass us by

Visitors interacted with artists who took part of the workshops and were present yesterday. Moreover, they participated in exposure of the collective murals done by public by peeling and wiping some of the walls with your own hands; all together transformed CAP – Warehouse into a playful artistic open-air theater!

Everyone was amazed with results of  Vincent’s permanent piece on one of the walls that is dedicated to CAP with size of 1000 x 600 cm as well as the collaborative work done by the artists, public, students.

Artists who participated in ‘Mutual Writings Workshop’ are: Abdullah Al- Enezi, Ahmed Abu Addas, Ahmed Al-Ayoub, Amani Thuwaini, Amira Behbehani, Cyda Oskay, Hamad Al-Saab, Lewis Champman, Mohammad Sharaf, Steven Hamp and Tariq Al-Sultan.

From January 10th – 19th, 2013 CAP organized free workshops for graffiti lover, students and artists to express themselves and reveal their feelings, passions, ambitions and wishes with the beginning of 2013. Led by French artist Vincent Abdie Hafez, the workshops were divided into two levels: Level One: “You, a Wall and Some Colors” for artists, and Level Two: ”Palimpsest Participation – in/outdoor” for public, students and beginners.
About Vincent Abadie Hafez:

Vincent Hafez, Born in 1977, lives and works in Paris. Studied graphic art and since by the late 80’s he became a graphic artist, he has been strongly involved in the visual culture of street art. The work of Vincent Hafez is the result of interbreeding, the influence of several cultures.

He approaches public spaces by grabbing the attention of public in developing a graphic and visual language based on free movements figuration,the spontaneity of the lyrical abstraction and finally taking risks of random graffiti. His calligraffiti has been marked many walls around the world, also he exhibited internationally and led many art workshops in different countries as well as taking part in many group exhibitions.

Stay tuned as we will post more photos of Closing Reception ‘Mutual Writings – Calligraffiti Workshops’ soon!

This season, Future Shorts Festival will travel to over 172 countries and 547 cities with more than 75,000 people experiencing a showcase of the best short films from around the world.

Future Shorts celebrates the best and most innovative short films, connecting global stories with global audiences.

The Autumn Season will feature the following short films:

Café Regular, Cairo – Ritesh Batra

A Brief History of John Baldessari – Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost

Rite – Michael Pearce

The Black Balloon – Ben Safdie & Joshua Safdie

On The Line – Reto Caffi

Special Live Music Set after the Screening.

Seats are limited, doors will close at 7:30 pm

See you there!

British Council is delighted to invite you to a talk delivered by the Academic Farah Al-Nakib. The talk analyzes the role that both the demolition of the urban landscape and the creation of sites of national heritage play in the destruction and forgetting of Kuwait’s past. It focuses on the current erasure of Kuwait’s modern era (1950s-1980s), and discusses possible reasons behind—and potential consequences of—this forgetting. It also identifies emerging cultural reactions to this process as attempts to remember Kuwait’s modern past.

Farah Al-Nakib is an Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Center for Gulf Studies at the American University of Kuwait. She obtained her PhD in Near and Middle East History at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in 2011. Her research focuses on the urban history of Kuwait City before and after oil, including current urban trends in the Gulf in the 21st century.

Out of Kuwait brings together the work of twelve Kuwait-based artists who have examined and reinterpreted the theme of landscape art during a one month artist residency programme called Landscapes Expanded. The exhibition presents the artists’ analysis of their everyday surroundings and comments on the social, political, and physical landscapes of contemporary Kuwait.

This unique opportunity was inspired by the best of Britain’s Landscape artists, whose work is seen in the British Council’s Out of Britain exhibition currently open at Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait. The programme has given artists living in Kuwait the chance to explore contemporary issues related to site, space and place in their field of work.

Landscapes Expanded was open to candidates from all creative and academic disciplines with the understanding that this would create a transdisciplinary forum for thinking and working. Each participant’s expertise and experience in their own field helped to inform the work generated by the rest of the group. For individuals outside of formal education this type of stimulating platform is rare. Residency participant Muneera Al Sharhan explains that the residency programme has exposed the participants to new methods of creating artwork and has helped them to meet other artists. Fellow participant, Lewis Chapman agrees and states, “If museums and galleries run more educational programs where artists can meet and work together and if local universities commit to supporting quality arts programmes, more meaningful and inspiring art will be produced. I hope this residency programme is the first of many in Kuwait.”

Landscapes Expanded is led by artist and curator Alia Farid Abdal, who explores personal perspectives of public space and constructed landscapes in her own art work and academic research. Participating in the programme are architects Aziz Al Humaidhi and Roa AlShaheen, architecture undergraduate Amani Adel Al Thuwaini, spatial designer Aseel Al Yaqoub, Religion, Literature and Arts graduate, Nima Algooneh, English Literature graduate, Zahra Al Mahdi, jewellery designer, Muneera Al Sharhan, painters Lewis Chapman and Eman Musallem, English and American Literature graduate Faisal Hamadah, journalist Naser Al Wasmi, and Middle East Studies graduate, Ceyda Oskay.

This initiative is part of British Council’s exhibition Out of Britain: 100 years of British Landscape Art. Out Of Britain is one of the largest cultural events the British Council Kuwait has organised in more than 50 years and is supported by a full month-long public campaign. As well as this artist residency, Landscapes Expanded includes a series of public lectures led by arts specialists from the UK and Kuwait, and an educational programme for schools.

Out of Kuwait will be open at the Museum of Modern Art, Kuwait from 17 – 24 October 2012.

For Map, please visit: http://ow.ly/etsMs

‘Mubarakiyah’

October 10th – October 17th 2012

Opening Reception: 7-9 pm at CAP’s warehouse.

A group exhibition featuring a series of photographs taken by 15 participants of the CAP photography workshop. Led by two members of the Rawiya Collective, Laura Boushnak & Tamara Abdul Hadi, the workshop took place last May, in the Moubarakiyah Souq for a duration of two days. It’s main focus was on the old souq, the vendors, the visitors and the stories that can be found in this local public market.

All proceeds will go to the “Hayatt” Breast Cancer Foundation.

In parallel to the Out of Britain exhibition (18 September – 25 October 2012), the British Council in collaboration with CAP Kuwait, will host Landscapes Expanded; a programme of events and lectures that will explore the themes of landscape in different art forms.

We are delighted that Rebecca Close, will present her talk: The Role of Landscape in Contemporary Society

Close’s talk will look back at the role of landscape in art history in order to explore the current status of ‘images of the land’ in a contemporary context.

Rebecca Close is a British writer and researcher based in Barcelona, Spain. A first class graduate in Philosophy from Manchester University, she was awarded a scholarship in 2008 to travel to Hong Kong where she studied at Hong Kong University and worked as an assistant researcher for Asia Art Archive. She went on to work for Art Asia Pacific Magazine (AAP) in New York as a data researcher for the Almanac, which lead to an in-depth knowledge of the diverse arts scenes in the 67 countries and territories covered by the publication. She has since been a regular contributor to a range of cultural publications including Frieze Magazine and currently works as the editorial desk in Spain for AAP.

In parallel to the Out of Britain exhibition (18 September – 25 October 2012), the British Council in collaboration with CAP Kuwait, will host Landscapes Expanded; a programme of events and lectures that will explore the themes of landscape in different art forms.

We are delighted that David Rasyon, featured artist in Out of Britain, will be the first to present a lecture about his work. Rayson’s work relates directly to the visual potential of the everyday, enabling the ordinary to be realised as fantastic.