Beauty lost and what lies beyond (part 1)
The multi-media artist Maysaloun Faraj tells ArtScoops about how the challenges she faces as an artist, a woman, a muslim and an Iraqi living outside the motherland have affected her life experience and shaped her output as a painter, sculptor and ceramist
You work with paint, clay, wood and bronze and also have an architectural...
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Don’t forget the future
In an intriguing new series of works, Shahida Ahmed, a British-born artist based in the Middle East and UK, explores society’s failings and responsibilities to great effect.
All artists hope to generate a reaction from their work, whether it’s starting a dialogue, adding to a conversation or encouraging their audience to pause...
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The Murano Connection
With its 900-piece candelabra, which features an array of exquisite glass lamps, the Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Mosque is inevitably a subject of great fascination for the Turkish glass artist Felekşan Onar. Here she tells Ahmad Minkara about her new documentary on the mosque’s history and features, titled ‘Esma’, which will be screened at the third...
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A Cut Above
Collage artist and educator, Haibat Balaa, tells ArtScoops about her passion for her media of choice and the work she has prepared for the 8th Beijing International Biennale Exhibition, China, 2019
Collage remains an unusual medium for an artist to work in today. What is it about collage that makes you feel it can best express...
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On fragmented memories, flamingoes and freedom of expression
Drawing on her childhood in Abu Dhabi and time spent between Beirut and New York, Tala Worrell’s paintings provide thought-provoking, observational snapshots of a diverse mix of places and people
Like several other artists with Middle Eastern roots, you spent much of your childhood abroad. How has this influenced your art? Those...
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New mission for Arab Image Foundation
The organisation’s platform, which has just gone live, promises a more interactive and enlightening experience for users keen to access its thousands of fascinating photographic objects
These are exciting times for the Arab Image Foundation, with the non-profit organisation having just moved this week into a highly anticipated...
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Depicting decisions and dilemmas
Masoud Akhavanjam’s two large-scale, stainless steel structures on show at the Venice Biennale explore the choices we all face in life and their far-reaching consequences
Life’s age-old contradictions and the push and pull that conflicts produce have long been a source of fascination to the Iranian sculptor Masoud Akhavanjam,...
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A tribute to Batroun
Sami Basbous’s latest multi-faceted show pays tribute to his beloved birthplace
The historic coastal city of Batroun inevitably has a special place in Sami Basbous’s heart, given that he was born there and his father’s family hails from the local village of Ghouma.
However, the Beirut-based artist’s affection for this...
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Encouraging Organic Growth
Taline N. Boladian and Juliana Khalaf Salhab are the founders of the Beirut-based BAKS fine art advisory firm, which specializes in the valuation and buying/selling of Lebanese Modern and Contemporary Art, Islamic Art, and 19th/20th century European Art, alongside other art-related services, with clients across the Middle East and farther...
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