New Ends, Old Beginnings

About

Can Altay, Ziad Antar, Lara Baladi, Cevdet Erek, Tarek Al Ghoussein, Chourouk Hriech, Randa Mirza, Michael Rakowitz, Hrair Sarkissian, Sharif Waked and Tarek Zaki. Curated by November Paynter, this exhibition looks at the varied and complex cultures across the cities of the Arab region. While cities like Baghdad struggle to protect their museums and architectural heritage, others like Abu Dhabi are creating a space for the arts from scratch. New Ends, Old Beginnings investigates the region through artists' responses to the many layers of local and everyday culture, a perspective often overlooked by the world's media, which prefers instead to present images that shock and manipulate viewers. Using photography, video, sculpture, installation and performance, the exhibiting artists question how hundreds of years of history can co-exist with current and future cultural practice, what tourism means for cities of the region, and the extent of the media's shaping of the topography of the Middle East.