Emirati curator Alia Zaal says her work has been inspired by her father's weak eyesight as 'he was forced to approach art a bit differently, paying a lot of attention to detail'

It all started with a simple conversation among Palestinian artists some twenty years ago. It was right after the outbreak of the Second Intifada that some of the most...

At the very centre of Palazzo Mora, an old Venetian building, I stepped across the front yard and then through rooms where workers were still setting up artworks from...

Where does a refugee find her homeland? Perhaps in unexpected places; a memory of the country might emerge through the most mundane gestures, or even from a simple interaction...

We inhabit a burning world, where everything is constantly dying while also being alive, brightly so. From our emotions to our thoughts and feelings, from our bodies to the...

When we think of political art from Palestine or elsewhere, very rarely do abstract paintings come to mind. We would rather think of militant canvases in a realistic style,...

The late Lebanese artist Etel Adnan once said that, "We are used to living in a world of 'either, or', but we are complex beings, multiple beings, diverse beings."...

What does it mean to be Libyan? How to reconstruct a sense of belonging for the country and its people, starting from the deepest roots of Libyan culture, while...

As Saudi Arabia announces its first art Biennale as a part of its cultural growth plan, we need to keep in mind that the post-pandemic art world needs to operate in new, sustainable modalities

Palestinian artist Hazem Harb doesn't try to define the idea of Palestine in his work. "For me, Palestine just is," he tells me. "I'm interested in its history and...

Many of us have misconceptions and preconceived ideas about the art scene in the Gulf countries. Hence, when we see the work of a gallery like Hunna/ هُنَّ —...

When we think of the genre of magical realism, we often think about South American literature, where spirits of the past, food and social issues blur together. However, for...

Tripoli-born art entrepreneur and educator Shatha Sbeta is very clear about her objective. "I want to bring Libyan female artists and their artworks — as well as their stories...

It has been said that artists always work on exploring a single idea throughout their entire life; an idea connected deeply to the core of their being; and they...

MEMO speaks to London-based Libyan gallerist and curator Najlaa Elageli

Artist, director and poet Hind Shoufani insists that her Palestinian-ness is a political act. "It is a choice to be on this side of history," she tells me, "whether...

In ancient mythology it was believed that salamanders are born from fire. No metaphor would be more fitting for the Lebanese artists who need to rise from the ashes...

"It was one humiliation too many," is how artist Nadia Khiari recalls the speech of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on 13 January 2011, following the street...

"Just like the seasons of the Earth, there is a time and place for everything," says Lebanese artist Zena El-Khalil. "Winter has the tendency to create the most amount...

For multimedia artist Steve Sabella, these hard times require us to access the potential of our imagination in order to conjure up our collective future. His works of art...

Palestinian ambassador Ali Kazak arrived in Australia in 1970, at the peak of the Palestinian revolutionary political and military activity. He found that the Zionist narrative was prevalent in...

Ethiopian artist Aïda Muluneh's striking photograph titled "The past, the present and the future" depicts three women with blue skin; it is extremely evocative, and reminiscent of the painting...

’Even today it’s really small. In Algeria there is no real cultural strategy, and outside Algiers it is really difficult to do something in the arts. But over the past few years the situation has started to change, thanks to a few private initiatives’

Do we need another biennale when the landscape of such exhibitions worldwide is already saturated? Why do we need one in Morocco? What would such an event in al-maghrib...

In the spirit of the Festival – born as a multimedia platform – Libya. Back Home brings multimedia art to the stage

Born in 1989 in Casablanca, Yasmine's strength is the open-mindedness and determination typical of her generation

Interview with director Dr Adila Laïdi Hanieh

The 2019 Venice Biennale has asked artists to step into the socio-political realm, in the middle of far-right Matteo Salvini's Italy. And they have done it, dismantling Orientalism and...

Art institutions all around the world are paying increasing attention to emerging Moroccan artists

The contemporary art world has flocked for the Sharjah Biennial in the past month

A group of women wearing different-coloured niqabs carry ice creams that are just as colourful. Their eyes are closed as if they are about to savour the different flavours....

In previous years, the festival welcomed a variety of proposals with different content but one focus; the promotion of non-violence.