The exhibitions are hosted by the Kasbah and Dar Niaba museums, and the inauguration of the two events was attended by FNM president Mehdi Qotbi, as well as Jack Lang, president of the Arab World Institute in Paris, Christophe Lecourtier, the French ambassador to Morocco, and Abdelaziz El Idrissi, director of the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
The first exhibition is entitled "Arab Modernities". Enriched by the recent major donation from Claude & France Lemand, this remarkable selection of works from the IMA museum is being presented for the first time at another institution. It presents a rich panorama of the avant-garde and plural modernities of the countries of the Arab world from 1945 to the present day, with a majority of paintings but also sculptures, photographs and graphic works.
Sixteen Arab countries are represented in the exhibition: Morocco, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen.
The event is divided into four parts:
"An Arab world in the mirror: the sources of inspiring traditions": this first part looks at the reappropriation by Arab artists of their heritage, free from all Western influences. Artists from the Mashreq and then the Maghreb are reinvesting their pre-Islamic heritage: rock art in Algeria, Mesopotamian art in Iraq, Pharaonic art in Egypt, Nabataean art in Jordan and Roman art in Lebanon. Ancient civilisations and archaeological remains are inspiring artists, some of them experts themselves (Adam Henein and Dia Al Azzawi).
"Plural territories of abstraction: national and international statements": this second part focuses on abstract art in the Arab world from the 1960s onwards, which draws on popular forms (tattoos, talismans, graffiti, etc.).
"Between bruises and hopes, the weight of History": this third part tackles art and the Arab world facing the rise of nationalism and socialism in a context of Cold War and decolonization. Lebanese, Sudanese, Palestinian, Iraqi, Libyan and Syrian artists bear witness to totalitarianism, civil wars, terrorism and exile.
"And tomorrow? A human condition on the move": the exhibition concludes with the reappropriation of the body through plastic arts in an Arab world which integrates nudes in its art. The human condition, introspection and existential questioning are recurring themes for many artists: Lebanese Paul Guiragossian, Syrian Marwan and Moroccan Mahi Binebine.
The second exhibition at Dar Niaba showcases the collection donated by Didier Sentis de Montoussy, which includes Orientalist paintings and Islamic art.
Photo: "Composition", Dia Azzawi, 1986. Copyrights IMA Museum.