A Deconstruction of the Notion of Arab Contemporary Art
(2014) KOVM12 20141Division of Art History and Visual Studies
- Abstract
- In this research paper, a result of an internship at Art Dubai 2014, I attempt to deconstruct the notion of Arab contemporary art as a monolithic term. The deconstruction occurs through two case studies that pertain to Arab contemporary art. The first case study, I interview artists from the region and conduct visual analysis of their artwork in an attempt to identify aesthetical aspects that pertains to the Arab region in their art. Simultaneously I analyze the relation of the socio-political identity to their artistic practice by building on Homi K. Bhabha’s notion of cultural “hybridity.” I introduce a new term Hybridentity, which departures from Bhabha’s notion of hybridity however it is in constant transformation as a cultural subject... (More)
- In this research paper, a result of an internship at Art Dubai 2014, I attempt to deconstruct the notion of Arab contemporary art as a monolithic term. The deconstruction occurs through two case studies that pertain to Arab contemporary art. The first case study, I interview artists from the region and conduct visual analysis of their artwork in an attempt to identify aesthetical aspects that pertains to the Arab region in their art. Simultaneously I analyze the relation of the socio-political identity to their artistic practice by building on Homi K. Bhabha’s notion of cultural “hybridity.” I introduce a new term Hybridentity, which departures from Bhabha’s notion of hybridity however it is in constant transformation as a cultural subject in a post-globalized world. The second case study explores curatorial strategies in an exhibition called Arab Contemporary at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. I explore two artworks form the exhibition that highlight the problems of contextualization based on the homogenization of the sociopolitical identity of the Arab region. The contextualization of the artworks under one rubric highlights the contested space of visual representation of the Arab region in the West. This second case study engages the notion of identity theft and curatorial imperialism as a theoretical framework. The research resulted in four empirical findings, first Arab contemporary art consists of various practices that cannot be analyzed under the notion of an Arab aesthetical language, second that Arab contemporary art is not confined to Arab artists living in the region, third is that Arab contemporary art is an ambiguous notion that serves the homogenization of the region and the construction of one Arab identity, fourth is the deficiency in the epistemology of the history of Arab art which contributes to the ambiguity of the term, Arab contemporary art. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/4446941
- author
- Basyouny, Sarah LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- A journey from Dubai to Louisiana
- course
- KOVM12 20141
- year
- 2014
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Arab contemporary art Hybridentity Louisiana Museum of Modern Art Curatorial Imperialism Arabness
- language
- English
- id
- 4446941
- date added to LUP
- 2014-11-07 15:47:15
- date last changed
- 2014-11-07 15:47:15
@misc{4446941,
abstract = {{In this research paper, a result of an internship at Art Dubai 2014, I attempt to deconstruct the notion of Arab contemporary art as a monolithic term. The deconstruction occurs through two case studies that pertain to Arab contemporary art. The first case study, I interview artists from the region and conduct visual analysis of their artwork in an attempt to identify aesthetical aspects that pertains to the Arab region in their art. Simultaneously I analyze the relation of the socio-political identity to their artistic practice by building on Homi K. Bhabha’s notion of cultural “hybridity.” I introduce a new term Hybridentity, which departures from Bhabha’s notion of hybridity however it is in constant transformation as a cultural subject in a post-globalized world. The second case study explores curatorial strategies in an exhibition called Arab Contemporary at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. I explore two artworks form the exhibition that highlight the problems of contextualization based on the homogenization of the sociopolitical identity of the Arab region. The contextualization of the artworks under one rubric highlights the contested space of visual representation of the Arab region in the West. This second case study engages the notion of identity theft and curatorial imperialism as a theoretical framework. The research resulted in four empirical findings, first Arab contemporary art consists of various practices that cannot be analyzed under the notion of an Arab aesthetical language, second that Arab contemporary art is not confined to Arab artists living in the region, third is that Arab contemporary art is an ambiguous notion that serves the homogenization of the region and the construction of one Arab identity, fourth is the deficiency in the epistemology of the history of Arab art which contributes to the ambiguity of the term, Arab contemporary art.}},
author = {{Basyouny, Sarah}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{A Deconstruction of the Notion of Arab Contemporary Art}},
year = {{2014}},
}