Venice Biennale and the Arab World

Abdulnasser Gharem. Hemisphere 2017, © Gharem Studio

The major 2-day conference titled Venice Biennale and the Arab World will be held at the Università Ca’ Foscari in Venice (19-20 October, 2017). The conference will bring together an international group of academics, artists and professionals to investigate where contemporary art from the Arab world is heading and the role that Venice plays as a long-term exhibition platform for the international art scene.

Among the subjects covered will be: the role of private collections in writing an art history of the region with a specific focus on Tunisia's Kamel Lazaar Foundation; politics, critique and constraints in Syrian contemporary art; and public censorship and challenges in the Arabian Peninsula through Abdulnasser Gharem’s artwork. Speakers include academics such as Maymanah Farhat and Catherine Cornet, as well as advocates and collectors such as Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and Rose Issa, and artists themselves such as Samia Halaby and Bahia Shehab.

Bahia Shehab. A thousand times No. Courtesy of the artist.

Placing the Biennale at centre-stage and taking the artworks and installations of artists from the Arab world as a source of inspiration, the purpose of the conference is to create an intellectual dialogue and a spring board for future discussion. Attendance is free, but registration is essential. You can register at venicebiennale.arabworld@unive.it

More information here