DAMASCUS— A rare exhibition of Arab and
Italian art in an old caravanserai in the heart of Damascus is
challenging taboos about European influences behind a late
20th-century renaissance in Arab art.
The exhibition, in the domed 18th-century
Khan Asaad Basha, shows the work of Arab artists hanging
alongside ones by Italian artists who had either inspired or
taught them.
The result is a powerful demonstration of how
modern Arab artists adopted European styles and then transformed
them to reflect the political turbulence of their countries.
"We’re in difficult times and it is important
for art to resist culture wars. One can see how Italian schools
... influenced leading Arab artists," said researcher Martina
Corgnati.
Many Arab painters and sculptors left for
Europe, mainly Italy and France, after World War II as
authoritarian rulers cemented their grip on power across the
Middle East.
Those who returned from exile brought back
European 20th- century styles which underpinned a modern Arab
artistic tradition now gaining new recognition and popularity.
"They adopted the Italian school in their own
way," Corgnati told Reuters.
Corgnati spent two years collecting works of
Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian artists as well those of their
Italian mentors for the exhibition, which opened in the Syrian
capital last month and will also travel to Beirut and Cairo.
The idea is to present the works in what the
organizers call "couples" or "duos" to try to show scholars, art
lovers and the general public the similarities between the two.
Organized a part of a series of events
celebrating Damascus as this year’s Arab Capital of Culture, the
exhibition is also well-timed to cash in on a boom in demand for
modern Arab art.
Gulf buyers, flush with cash thanks to
soaring oil prices, are investing heavily in art from around the
world and are willing to pay sizeable sums for original works by
fellow Arabs.
For example an untitled work by the late
Syrian master Fateh al Moudarres sold for 26,000 pounds
($52,000) at London auction house Sotheby’s in October, double
the estimate.
Two works by the late Syrian artist Louai Kayyali, who died
in 1978 aged 44, were sold for a total of 59,000 pounds. –Reuters
