EXPRESSION: Coffin VI, 2008, acrylic on canvas, by Iraqi artist Ayad Alkadhi.  Right: The Arab Spring PacMan 2013, digital print on plexiglass by Khalid Albaih at the exhibition.

Ana Arabi? —  an exhibition of contemporary Arab art in Doha — explores  the relationship between artworks and defining a sense of belonging

By Umer Nangiana

What is Arab identity? Why is the question of Arab identity still being asked? Ana Arabi?, an exhibition of contemporary Arab art curated by students of University of London College (UCL-Qatar), attempts to answer such questions.

On display for two weeks from March 30 at Katara Art Centre (KAC), the exhibition offers a space to explore contemporary Arab art and its relationship with identity. It can be seen as a dialogue between the artworks whilst questioning the process of reaching and defining a sense of belonging.

The exhibition, developed through a private Doha-based collection of modern and contemporary Arab art, attempts to make visible ideas and connections to the diverse histories and social factors that have shaped and created Arab identities.

“The original concept for the exhibition, an exploration of identity in the Arab world was constructed by the curatorial team, who imagined a singular form of Arab identity that whilst accommodating regional, historical, political and cultural diversity, could be applied on a global scale as on unified term,” says Michailangelos Vlassis-Ziakas, a member of the curatorial team.

Guided by UCL’s academic faculty, UCL Qatar’s MA Museum and Gallery Practice students curate exhibitions each year before graduating, which take place annually under the permanent platform UCLQurates.

For 2014, UCLQurates is being announced by UCL Qatar in a strategic and creative partnership with Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and KAC. The team will work with an outstanding private collection of Tariq al-Jaidah, the patron and collector of contemporary art, and cultural entrepreneur based in Doha, to create an exhibition that explores themes of Arab identity.

Al-Jaidah is also founder and managing director of Al Jaidah Brothers, and is a pioneer in international communications and marketing sector in Qatar. As founder and managing director of KAC, an independently-run collaborative art and design centre, his vision is to develop and drive a thriving and productive art scene in Doha.

He is a member of the Guggenheim committees for contemporary Arab art, and is a member of the board of Canvas magazine, and works from his private collection have been represented in galleries and museums worldwide.

“Appreciation and collection of art is an evolving process. It takes time but it will develop. More museums will come up and there are enough people here who would appreciate art,” al-Jaidah expressed high hopes for the development of art scene in Qatar during a talk with Amit Kumar Jain at the opening of the exhibition at KAC.

Contemporary Arab art is responding to the challenges of identity-as-process that rapid change creates on a local and global scale. Mixed-media artworks move beyond traditional artistic canons in their artistic expression of the complexity of Arab identity.

“In order to explore this ambiguous subject matter the exhibition introduces four key frameworks of identity; the geographical, the political, the religious and the socio-cultural, in an attempt to understand why we continue to ask, what is Arab identity?,” says the curatorial team in their exhibition’s synopsis.

Inspired by the recent Arab spring movement across many Middle Eastern countries, one of the pieces of art, The Arab Spring PacMan 2013 by Khalid Albaih, a Sudanese-Romanian artist, features in the exhibition. The artist’s work combines traditional ink and paper alongside digital created design.

His contemporary approach to display is transmitted by transcending print methods to occupying the social media world as its key platform. It enables him to reach multiple audiences, inspire creative collaborations and spread the art as a news feed, as it is through social media that many Arab community express themselves.

The curation of the exhibition attempts to ask why the Arab identity is still an issue within the arts today and examines the myths that result. Working from this unique private collection as a starting point, the exhibition will become part of a larger programme of roundtable discussion between artists based in Qatar, local collectors, and international guests on the theme of Arab identities.

“We believe UCLQurates will grow to become a recognised platform for curatorial dialogue to enable future UCL Qatar students to enjoy a key role in Qatar’s global impact on the arts and creative industries,” said a MA Museum and Gallery Practice student of UCL Qatar.

BELOW:

CANDID: Tariq al-Jaidah, (right), the founder and managing director of KAC, in public talk with Amit Kumar Jain  Photograph courtesy: KAC