Mid East Art participated in a series of in depth interviews with Arthur Debsi, writer and researcher at Dalloul Art Foundation where he discusses various subjects with professionals in the Arab world.

Suzy Sikorski - Founder of Mid East Art

Part I. Documenting and archiving remain as important work to continue for the art from the Middle East.

In the first part of the conversation, Suzy Sikorski explains her research work on the art of the Gulf region, and more specifically the art of the United Arab Emirates, which led her to create Mid East Art online platform. Originally an Instagram account, Mid East Art turned into a website in 2017, which gives free access to all the interviews with the artists from the Gulf conducted by Sikorski, as well as archival photographs, essays, and videos. Mid East Art takes on an educational dimension, aiming to introduce modern, and contemporary art, and artists in the Middle East, especially through an ongoing series of posts. The ‘Artists in Quarantine’ and the ‘Golden Days’ series both show the artistic journeys of Arab artists within different historical times, where they developed their art or their movements. Early spring 2020, Mid East Art also collaborated with the UAE Embassy’s cultural Diplomacy Department in Washington DC. by conducting interviews with contemporary Arab artists. Video recorded on Zoom by Arthur Debsi Edited by Christine Labban

Part II. Since the 1960s, the artistic scene in the Gulf region has been steadily developing, becoming an influential cultural hub in the world nowadays especially by hosting important international events. In the second part of the conversation, Suzy Sikorski shares her research work on the art of the Gulf starting from 2016, with a focus on the United Arab Emirates' art history that is available online on the Mid East Art platform. Covering forty years of history across four generations of artists from Kuwait to Oman, Sikorski explains, through archives and personal photographs, the development of the artistic scenes in the countries of the region. Modern and contemporary local artists including Mohammed al-Saleem (1939-1997), Abdul Rahim Sharif (1954-) and Hassan Sharif (1951-2016) traveled to the West to complete their studies, and went back to their respective home countries where they elaborated their styles. The artworks that they produced show that they had always been true to their cultural identity while staying connected to their times.

Video recorded on Zoom by Arthur Debsi

Edited by Christine Labban