The works, gathered over the last four years by the Baghdad-born impresario, touch on sensitive topics. They depict the horror of conflicts past and present, explore suppressed sexuality and examine a woman’s place in the Muslim world. The 19 artists in “Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East,” which runs at the Saatchi Gallery from Friday until May 6, are from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Ramallah and beyond. Some still live in their native countries while others have emigrated to the West.
“Our sense of the Middle East is so dominated by reports of war, the tensions and the troubles,” said Rebecca Wilson, the gallery’s head of development. “But over the last two to three years many galleries have been opening in Tehran and Beirut. There are flourishing artistic communities we are not really hearing about.”
One of the most striking works on display is “Ghost” by French-Algerian artist Kader Attia, comprising more than 200 life-sized figures of Muslim women in hijabs bowing in prayer, each made out of aluminum foil. Only when the visitor reaches the far end of the gallery and looks back does it become clear that the forms are empty shells. Iran’s Rokni Haerizadeh uses biting satire to send up the hypocrisy he sees in his society. The large “Typical Iranian Wedding” diptych shows women at a marriage on one side celebrating in subdued fashion, while the men in the right-hand panel carouse with abandon.
The Middle East is being touted as the “next big thing” in contemporary art, taking over from China where artists have seen values for their works skyrocket. “After [China’s] Tiananmen Square [protests in 1989], the awareness was increased and that’s the same with Middle Eastern art,” Wilson explained. “There is a sense of discovery. The art world loves to jump on the next new thing.”
Benzer Haberler 
