Beyond Ruptures includes works of Aref el Rayess, Jean Khalife, Samir Khaddaje, Samia Osseiran, Shafic Abboud, Said Akl, Akram Zaatari and Nesrine Khodr as a testimony and tribute to the cultural resistance led by artists, cultural workers, and art patrons, in the challenging environments Lebanon has presented over the years. Selected works in the timeline, mark important events in the lives of each artist, and act as time capsules showing different artistic practices shaped by violence.
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The exhibition probes the ways in which the domestic context of a private collection can be transferred into a museum context. In so doing, it explores the possibilities of restaging and articulating the affinities created between distinct objects by means of a collector’s desires and endeavours. The exhibition, which spans the 4th and 3rd-floor galleries of Arter, brings together works by almost 400 artists, anonymous artefacts and mass-produced items, as well as multifarious objects.
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Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere is the title of the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The part of the exhibtion called Nucleo Storico is gathering works from 20th century Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Much has been written about global modernisms and modernisms in the Global South, and a number of rooms will feature works from these territories, much like an essay, a draft, a speculative curatorial exercise that seeks to question the boundaries and definitions of modernism. Around forty artists who were active in the art contexts of West Asian and North Africa such as Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, and Tehran, are included in the exhibition, among them Dia al-Azzawi, Huguette Caland, Gazbia Sirry, Marwan, and Bahman Mohasses.
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Artist Yto Barrada will transform the MoMA PS1 courtyard with a large-scale installation, her first major outdoor work is composed of colorful concrete blocks stacked into pyramidal towers whose lower levels visitors can sit on and explore, providing an interactive experience in the courtyard and a setting for PS1’s signature summer music series Warm Up. The sculptures’ formations draw inspiration from multiple histories of surmounting barricades and retooling architectures: the construction of human pyramids in Morocco, Moroccan Brutalism, and Barrada’s family lore.
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“Unobservable dreams” focuses on the diverse realities of society and the contrasting desires arising from them. The exhibition explores how social values and economic prosperity are replaced by crises in a rapidly changing and unpredictable world, and how these changes impact different layers of society. This results in a more nuanced and complex societal landscape, reflecting its sensitive and multifaceted nature. The artists, adapting mythological references to contemporary realities, attempt to “voice” the “unobservable” dreams of their characters through their video works.
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An exhibition of works by Tala Madani as part of the museum’s exhibition cycle, “What If Women Ruled the World?”
This four-part series is exclusively dedicated to the work of women artists or artists who identify as female. Initiated by EMΣT artistic director Katerina Gregos and inspired by Yael Bartana’s 2017 neon work of the same name, this cycle of exhibitions is based on an often-repeated hypothetical question: What would happen if governance was characterized by female traits?
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“Unobservable Dreams” showcases video works from YARAT’s collection by artists like Zamir Suleymanov, Emin Azizbeyli, and Vajiko Chachkhiani. The exhibition explores societal shifts, crises, and contrasting desires in an unpredictable world. Through mythological references, the artists give voice to hidden dreams and emotions. Themes of hope, identity, and despair are woven throughout, reflecting the complex layers of society. The exhibition delves into both collective and personal struggles across cultures.
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“Voices of Silence” is Aidan Salakhova’s first large-scale museum exhibition in Baku, commissioned by YARAT. It addresses domestic violence, amplifying the voices of its victims through an installation of 12 white stone jugs. Each jug tells a tragic story from the past 12 years, blending beauty with haunting narratives. The exhibition urges society to break the silence, fostering dialogue and action against domestic violence.
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The artist Mona Hakimi-Schüler, who grew up in Tehran and now lives in Berlin, uses a wide range of artistic forms of expression to address the political situation in Iran and the role of women in society. Her own life story is also reflected in her works and the artist herself appears again and again in her works.
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Dis-placed at Konschthal Esch, part of the Biennale 2024 – Architectures, d’Esch Capitale Culturelle, examines the notion of ‘loss of home.’ From September 2024, the second part of the exhibition will take place, featuring works by Taysir Batniji, Marco A. Castillo, Vajiko Chachkhiani, Haus-Rucker-Co, Sebastián Díaz Morales, Marlene Dumas, Guillaume Delaperriere, Omer Fast, Tirdad Hashemi & Soufia Erfanian, Samira Hodaei, Candida Höfer, Hiwa K, Lisa Kohl, Gregor Schneider and The Blaze.
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In this exhibition, Mahmoud Alhaj examines the colonial violence and mechanisms of domination and control imposed on Palestinian geography over the years. Alhaj’s projects preceded the intensification of these oppressive tools, ultimately leading to the ongoing atrocities in the Gaza Strip over the past months.
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Archipelago: Visions in Orbit uses the metaphor of an archipelago—distinct yet connected islands—to explore diverse artistic perspectives. In response to societal fragmentation and geopolitical tensions, the exhibition highlights a shared cultural fabric while embracing complex differences. Featuring artists like Esther Teichmann and Jade de Montserrat, it examines themes of migration and belonging. Curated by MA Curating Art and Public Programmes students, the show reflects Whitechapel’s rich history of migrant communities and includes public performances and events.
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A unique exhibition celebrating the artistry of Arab artists-printmakers. The exhibition showcases a rich selection of fine art prints on paper from the DAF collection, some of which have rarely been seen by the public. Showcasing more than 310 fine art handmade prints on paper, the exhibition features the creations of 36 renowned Arab artists from across the Middle East and North Africa. The exhibition aims to be not just a display of art, but also an educational opportunity to learn about the history and techniques of printmaking.
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Galerie Georg Nothelfer presents the first solo exhibition of Iranian artist Elmira Iravanizad, featuring her new works. The exhibition showcases small and large oil paintings, sculptures in ceramic, metal, and wood, and intricate collages made from drawings and cut-outs. Iravanizad’s layered approach transforms materials, blurring the lines between painting and sculpture. Her interactive pieces invite viewers to engage, as they explore the interplay of organic and inorganic forms. Reflecting her cultural background, her work connects urban landscapes of Tehran, London, and Berlin, creating a dialogue between past and present.
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Karma inaugurates its new exhibition space in Chelsea at 549 West 26th Street with “Landscapes,” featuring the work of first-generation New York School painter and poet Manoucher Yektai, running from September 12 to November 9, 2024. This is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on Yektai’s landscapes, showcasing paintings from 1957 to 1992. By merging abstraction and classical elements, Yektai’s work reflects his identity as both an American citizen and Iranian expat. Art historian Suzanne Hudson states that he “produces rather than illustrates landscape,” challenging traditional views and enriching the Abstract Expressionist narrative.
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Wentrup presents Paris-based artist Desire Moheb-Zandi’s first solo exhibition during Berlin Art Week 2024. Moheb-Zandi’s large-scale sculptural tapestries blend traditional weaving techniques with modern motifs, reflecting her Turkish heritage and personal history. Using diverse materials like recycled bras, neon threads, and upcycled yarn, she intuitively assembles works without preparatory sketches. Her tapestries and soft sculptures evoke the rhythmic flow of the sea, creating a poetic cocoon of memories and emotions.
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Neda Saeedi’s sculptures and installations in her exhibition “For in Fire Yet We Trust” explore themes of historical violence, exploitation, and imperialism. Through deformed cultural symbols, fragile glass, and burning imagery, she confronts Europe’s oppressive past and present. The exhibition questions how we cope with history’s debris and whether there’s hope for change, all while refusing to give in to despair.
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In her first solo Los Angeles show in over a decade, British artist Shirazeh Houshiary presents new works exploring life’s origins and cosmic mysteries, from cellular structures to the aurora borealis. Her abstract paintings, featuring phrases like “I am” and “I am not,” reflect cycles of creation. Highlights include Enchanter (2024), Earth Lament (2023), and sculptural pieces like Maelstrom (2022), capturing the dynamic interplay of form, energy, and space.
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Ayyam Gallery presents a retrospective honoring the late Syrian artist Leila Nseir, known for her contributions to art and feminism. Nseir’s work reflects her humanist concerns and feminist thought, addressing conflict, inequality, and cultural identity. Her evolution from sculpture to painting, due to health challenges, showcases her resilience. Nseir’s untitled and undated works, influenced by ancient art, transcend time, questioning gender roles and celebrating women’s stories in Arab society.
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The joint exhibition of Sarah Almehairi and Bernhard Buhmann features works that explore themes of imperfection and discovery. Almehairi builds layers of marks and forms that emphasize asymmetry, while Buhmann’s mechanical portraits are marked by erasures and wounds. Both artists use color gradations and trompe l’oeil effects to blur boundaries, creating a sense of wandering and unpredictability, inviting viewers into an intimate, unplanned encounter with their evolving visual narratives.
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“Bound: Textiles Between Loss and Repair”, curated by Murtaza Vali, is the final exhibition in a series on contemporary fiber art. Featuring works by Dana Awartani, Jumana Manna, Hana Miletić, Dala Nasser, and Khalil Rabah, the show explores the fabric’s role in nurturing and healing. Through abstract forms, the works evoke shrouds and bandages, symbolizing loss, pain, and recovery. The absent body extends to collective, political, and environmental experiences.
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The exhibition promises a rich tapestry of artistic expressions, featuring over 80 artworks that encompass painting, drawing, ceramic, sculpture, and printmaking.
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Wadi 99 Art Gallery presents Naguib Moein’s first solo exhibition in Beirut. “Regnum” is an exploration of composition and ornamentation in sculpture. Moein creates a harmony between the aesthetics of architecture and sculpture, giving his works a unique and unconventional touch. His works resemble fantastical monuments or meticulously constructed towers and castles. These forms depict mysterious details of an ancient legend—a legend that encompasses all the mythical tales that have passed through human imagination since the dawn of civilization.
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Laying out an index of memory, Zineb Sedira in fact inculcates an interrogation of conventional cinematic style and boundaries, to the hilt. The factual and the staged, the documentary and the autobiographical are never in a contradistinction in Sedira’s work. Individual and collective footage intertwine, simultaneously emphasizing a heightened intellectual and militant approach that draws on both her personal history and significant, inconsolable episodes in international history.
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“An Epic of Kings” showcases 25 folios from the Great Mongol Shahnama, the most renowned medieval Persian manuscript. This exhibition highlights Iran’s national epic, completed by Firdawsi in 1010, and later commissioned by the Ilkhanid ruler Abu Sa‘id. The monumental illustrations depict key historical figures, like Alexander the Great and Sasanian monarchs, as role models for the Ilkhanids. For the first time, these artworks are displayed alongside contemporaneous pieces from China, the Mediterranean, and the Latin West, highlighting Eurasian cultural exchange.
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“Undefined Territory” explores constructions of place, identity, time, and knowledge within contemporary Bangladesh. Through photography, audiovisual works, and archival materials, the exhibition challenges traditional notions of “territory,” addressing politics, colonial structures, and rigid perceptions of time. Featuring works by Shumon Ahmed, Palash Bhattacharjee, Marzia Farhana, Shahria Sharmin, and Munem Wasif, it examines the personal and political through a dynamic interplay of the abstract, tangible, and absurd.
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Between the Tides: A Gulf Quinquennial* showcases the evolving artistic landscape of the GCC, featuring 21 artists and collectives from the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Co-curated by Maya Allison and Duygu Demir, the exhibition spans visual arts, architecture, and design, exploring themes of urban growth, environmental change, and identity. Reflecting on key moments from the past five years, it highlights the Gulf’s connection to natural rhythms and shared cultural ecosystems.
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Inspired by these lines from Forugh Farrokhzad’s celebrated poem The Window, Aida Mahmudova’s latest exhibition invites viewers into a deeply introspective journey, exploring solitude, nostalgia, and the yearning for inner and outer freedom. Through vivid imagery Mahmudova reflects on the tension between confinement and release, evoking the fragility of identity and the powerful forces that shape one’s inner world.
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In the exhibition from Palestinian-Danish video and installation artist Larissa Sansou, past, present and possible futures meet in a darkly expressive exhibition in which political but universally human topical issues interweave with imagined realities using the narrative methods of science fiction, documentary and opera. From the loss of the Palestinian people to the persistent threat of environmental catastrophe, the exhibition expands into studies of grief, memory and inherited trauma. Through her work, Sansour re-imagines the history of a nation on the brink of annihilation and of her homeland.
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The exhibition aims to document Tehran’s Shahr-e No citadel, the city’s former red-light district, burned on January 29, 1979, during the Islamic Revolution. Later turned into a park, this space was erased from collective memory as part of a cultural cleansing. Initiated by Hengame Hosseini with Parisa Davoudi and Nasrin Larijani, the exhibition, titled “No, I didn’t see anything…”, uses photography to remember and resist authoritarian erasure, offering a unique female perspective on a space they’ve never personally experienced.
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Monira Al Qadiri is an international artist whose practice explores topics as diverse as ancient history and the possibilities of new technologies, always with a critical yet playful point of view. Bozar presents her first solo exhibition in Belgium, titled The Archaeology of Beasts. Consisting of new digital creations commissioned for this occasion, Al Qadiri is taking a new visual turn, inspired by the Gods and Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Interweaving ancient myths and recent facts connected to climate change, Al Qadiri’s works oscillate between humour and beauty, often with an underlying violence. For this exhibition she is asking us to reflect on who qualifies as Human and who as Beast.
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Aaran Art Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Samira Eskandarfar, a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of identity, gender, and social issues. Her art unfolds in the hazy space between consciousness and the subconscious, often challenging deeply ingrained patriarchal norms embraced by both men and women. Confronting the hardships of life in her homeland, Iran, she uses metaphor and bold imagery to capture the spirit of courageous women in her country. Through self-portraiture, she boldly confronts outdated ideas of forced virtue and social acceptability.
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Spore Initiative presents “Fairuziat,” an event celebrating Fairuz’s 90th birthday and her impact on the concept of “home” for Arabs in the region and diaspora. Through an interactive installation, archival materials, guided tours, live music, and film screenings, visitors experience Fairuz’s voice as a unifying cultural force. The event delves into her role with the Rahbani Brothers in creating an idealized yet complex image of Lebanon, resonating from Beirut to diaspora communities worldwide.
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The workshop “Archived Ruptures – Ruptured Archives” examines moments of radical change in archives and private collections, focusing on memory, resistance, and alternative histories. Artists and scholars explore how ruptures in archived materials, from documents to textiles, can empower silenced voices and reveal new understandings of conflict, memory, and socio-cultural transformations.
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