ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 18th May, 2021) Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has launched a new short video series entitled 'Spotlight', which explores a selection of works on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi's current exhibition 'Abstraction and Calligraphy - Towards a Universal Language', which is on show until 12th June, 2021.
Featuring curatorial, academic and artistic voices as expert commentary, each video will explore a particular work's historical importance within the expanding vocabulary of calligraphic abstraction in the region and discerns the use of forms and the unique language of each artwork.
Available to stream on the Abu Dhabi Culture website, the series of Spotlight videos will be released periodically, with the first video, featuring a work by artist Dia Azzawi, already available to view.
Maisa Al Qassimi, Senior Project Manager of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, said, "As part of our commitment to working with artists and supporting contemporary artistic production, Spotlight is a unique opportunity to gain deeper insight into works on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi's exhibition Abstraction and Calligraphy - Towards a Universal Language. Each video enables in-depth conversations surrounding artistic practice and unearths new insights across different cultures, backgrounds and philosophies of artists and movements."
The selected Spotlight artists include painter and sculptor Dia Azzawi, one of the pioneers of modern Arab art, noted for incorporating into his work traditional elements of Arabic calligraphy, scenes from Iraq’s history, and Babylonian symbols. Streaming now, the first Spotlight video explores Azzawi’s work 'Ancient Symbols' and discusses his contribution to Modern art in the Arab world and beyond.
Ghada Amer is a contemporary artist best known for her embroideries that deal with social issues, including female identity and Islamic culture. Spotlight viewers will experience how Amer uses calligraphic language to express complex ideas about love through a video about her piece 'The Words I Love the Most', which will stream online from 30th May.
The ideology of Turner Prize-nominated Shirazeh Houshiary, an installation artist and sculptor, draws on mystical doctrine and the philosophies of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a Persian mystic and poet from the 13th century, with her work displaying a strong Persian influence. On 6th June, Spotlight will dive into Houshiary’s artistic practice and the influence of sacred geometry, abstraction, mysticism, and connectedness on her work with an in-depth look at her 1998 painting 'Luminous Darkness'.
Speakers providing expert commentary throughout the video series include Manuel Rabaté, Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi; Nada Shabout, Director of Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Initiative (CAMCSI) at University of North Texas; Ghada Amer, artist; Rose Demir, Associate Director of education & Community Engagement, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; Dr. Souraya Noujaim, Scientific, Curatorial & Collections Management Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi; Chika Okeke-Agulu, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Art & Archaeology, Princeton University; Maisa Al Qassimi, Senior Project Manager, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; Alice Querin, Senior Collections and Database Officer, Louvre Abu Dhabi; Shirazeh Houshiary, artist; Jessica Cerasi, Assistant Curator, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; and Jeremy Lewison, Director, Jeremy Lewison Limited.
Louvre Abu Dhabi's first international exhibition of 2021, 'Abstraction and Calligraphy – Towards a Universal Language', invites visitors to explore the dawn of modern abstraction through signs and symbols, tracing origins to Asian and Arabic calligraphy and charting sites of mutual inspiration around the world.
The exhibition brings together more than 80 masterworks on loan from 16 partner institutions, and featuring six works from Louvre Abu Dhabi's own permanent collection.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a museum of Modern and Contemporary art offering a transcultural perspective on art history, with a dedicated focus on art from West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia. Through its collection, exhibitions, scholarly publications and educational programmes, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will contribute to a more inclusive and expansive view of art history that emphasises the convergence of local, regional, and international sources of creative inspiration rather than geography or nationality. It responds to the art world of today’s interconnected nature, where cross-cultural sources of inspiration and transcultural exchange have become the norm.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Spotlight videos are available to stream on the Abu Dhabi Culture social media platforms and Louvre Abu Dhabi’s website.
