The Maghreb Bookshop, London. © Ibraaz, 2012.

Ibraaz would like to announce its upcoming Platform 003 Question:

Can artistic practices offer insights into and simultaneously negotiate the demands of cultural institutions, the politics of public space, and the ideal of civil society in the MENA region?

For the first time, Ibraaz is opening its platform question up to the public and would like to invite considered responses. Contributions can be submitted via text, image, video or sound.

In addressing this question, Ibraaz is hoping to elicit responses that engage with a number of interrelated issues – details of these and further information on how to respond is here. 

INTERVIEWS

L: Shezad Dawood, Piercing Brightness, 2011, production still. Courtesy of UBIK Productions Ltd. R: Adonis, Untitled, 2009, mixed media collage. Courtesy of the artist and The Mosaic Rooms, London.

In a recently published video interview, Shezad Dawood speaks to Ibraaz's Contributing Editor Sara Raza about his multi-faceted practice encompassing film, textiles, prints and sculpture through which he explores ideas of mutability and hybridity. In particular, Dawood discusses the work in his 'mid-career slice' opening at Modern Art Oxford in April 2012, including the film work and installation New Dream Machine Project (2011), which contemplates and interacts with Beat artist Brion Gysin’s stroboscopic flicker device, and is a continuation of the work for which Dawood was awarded the Abraaj Capital Art Prize in 2011.

Adonis, born Ali Ahmad Said Esber in Syria in 1930, is widely regarded as one of the Arab world’s greatest modern poets. On the occasion of his exhibition at The Mosaic Rooms in London, Ibraaz’s Laura Allsop sat down to speak to Adonis about his origins as a poet, his interest in Sufism, his experiences of exile and how he is finding new expression in visual art-making.

NEWS

L: Art & Patronage Summit, 12 -13 January 2012, British Museum and Royal College of Art, London. Courtesy of Art & Patronage Summit. R: IFFR 2012, International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands, festival exterior. Courtesy of International Film Festival Rotterdam,

Photograph by Nichon Glerum.

Ibraaz has published a report on the Art & Patronage Summit, now available in Ibraaz's News section, as we take a look back at the two-day event that took place over the 12th to the 13th of January 2012, and discuss the speakers, the panels, the lectures, and the potential outcomes.

Amira Gad reports on the Power Cut Middle East programme at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which took place between the 25th of January and the 2nd of February 2012, and presented films and visual artworks from the region. With a focus on Syria and Egypt, the programme consisted of short films, documentaries, feature films and visual art installations guided by discussions, lectures and artist talks.

Brute Ornament, an exhibition curated by Ibraaz's Contributing Editor Murtaza Vali, opens on the 19th of March 2012 during Art Dubai at Green Art Gallery. Brute Ornament will feature the work of New York-based artists Kamrooz Aram and Seher Shah and explore the conflicted relationship between the decorative tradition of ornament and western Modernism. Additionally, Sara Raza has curated the exhibition Migrasophia (migration + philosophy), which opens on the 14th of March 2012 at Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE and includes the work of Farhad Ahrarnia, Reza Aramesh and Slavs and Tatars, amongst others. 

NEW APPOINTMENT AT IBRAAZ

We would also like to announce the appointment of Nour K Sacranie as Ibraaz's Development Manager. Spending six months in Damascus studying Arabic and teaching English following a degree in English Literature from King’s College London, Nour has also worked for Mica Gallery and Gagosian, and is currently co-producing a fundraising exhibition for rehabilitation centres in Palestine. Through her role as Development Manager, Nour will contribute further to developing collaborations between Ibraaz and partner institutions throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

ABOUT

Ibraaz is an online publishing forum initiated by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation. Its primary goal is to publish writing and projects on visual culture in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Ibraaz Platform 003 will be launched in May 2012.