"God Is Alive, He Shall Not Die", Neon on reflective mirror by Nasser Al Salem
Tuesday, 7th of August, 2012, 10.00 pm to 11.30pm
A leading expert in contemporary Arab art, Saleh Barakat founded the Agial Art Gallery in 1991 and the Maqam Art Gallery in 2008, both in Beirut. As the executive manager of the two galleries, he has participated in building major collections of modern and contemporary Arab art. Possessing a strong business background in addition to his experience in the arts, Barakat has been engaged in developing a healthy market environment for creative expression in the Arab world.
Saleh Barakat's illustrated presentation invites you on a virtual trip to discover the calligraphic movement in modern and contemporary Arab art since its early beginnings in the late forties till today. After the independence of most Arab states in the 1940’s/1950’s, modern Arab art evolved into a search for a new language and a new semiotics to express an Arab and local identity. This was part of a broader post-Ottoman and post-colonial intellectual drive in the region that focused on creating distinctive national or regional identities. Most of this generation’s artists started digging for a new inspiration, and Arabic calligraphy was obviously a privileged choice. Ranging from a total adherence to strict canonic laws to the extreme free form, from the use of meaningful content to the totally abstracted sign, passing through mathematics and sculpture, this diverse school of art will be revisited over its boundaries, its successes and failures, its relationship to classical Arabic calligraphy from one side, and fine art from another. This lecture will also examine the reasons behind this particular school’s continuous success amongst Arab collectors and the uninterrupted predominance of the “word”, historically and religiously, in the collective Arab consciousness, while trying to explore its potential appreciation with an international audience.
This recapitulative virtual retrospective of what some art critics call the “Hurufiyyah” movement caters for the beginner as much as for the connoisseur in the field and doesn’t request any former knowledge in calligraphy.
Please note pre registration is required.
Fees are 200 SR per person.
5th Floor, Office Towers Serafi Mega Mall,
Tahlia St Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
+966 2 284 5009
No comments:
Post a Comment