Tate celebrates Fahrelnissa Zeid, Middle East modernist pioneer
Come this June (2017), Tate Modern celebrates the life and works of Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid, an artist who can rightly be seen as one of the female pioneers, in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, of both modernism and abstraction in a western sense, responsive to western aesthetics and sensibilities. Abstraction, through reinterpretation of Arabic/Farsi/Osmanli/Urdu calligraphic forms, isn’t new to a region...
Nour Festival 2014 launched
The annual Nour Festival in London’s cosmopolitan Chelsea and Kensington neighbourhoods launches its fifth cycle this week with an expanded cultural programme focused on contemporary Middle Easter and North Africa (MENA) and its varied British and European connections. Spread across numerous venues in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, home to citizens and residents of great cultural diversity, the six-week festival...
African art collecting picks up
More African individuals and businesses are spending on or investing in art than a few years earlier, with the focus on contemporary art produced by artists on the African continent or in locations elsewhere , anecdotal evidence and art market trends suggest. There’s also an emerging trend toward restitution of historical cultural materials now outside Africa. At Bonhams’ sale 21 May 2014, entitled Africa Now and billed...
African masks appear in Dorotheum, Vienna, sale
An old “Deangle” mask of the Dan people of Côte d’Ivoire / Liberia described as “very handsome” and an Igala helmet mask from Nigeria are among highlights of African art objects going for sale at Dorotheum, Vienna, 24 March 2014. The Dan mask estimate is Euro 4,000 – 5,000 while the estimate for the helmet mask of the Igala, Nigeria, described as rare, ranges between Euros 4,800 – 5,400. The Dan, also...
Art Gemini Prize 2013: A promising debut
Just out of its first cycle, wherein it disbursed GBP 5,000* in awards to artists and photographers, the Art Gemini Prize 2013, announced in January 2014, demonstrates there really is no limit to opportunities for discovering, or rediscovering, new creative talent, writes SAJID RIZVI. The rediscovery, where an incentive such as the Art Gemini Prize acts as a conduit or facilitator, occurs when an artist spotted in a previous outing...
Sharjah crowned capital of Islamic culture
Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates is fast emerging as a cultural counterpoint to Dubai. It recently celebrated its new status as the Capital of Islamic Culture 2014. In 1998, Sharjah was named the ‘Cultural Capital of the Arab World’ by UNESCO, an honour Sharjah says it “richly deserved.” Sharjah says it has kept the spirit of its history alive by innovatively incorporating tradition into every aspect of contemporary...