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Nujoom, Constellations of Arab Art

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The Farjam Foundation @ DIFC will open its latest exhibition on Tuesday, 2 November.  Nujoom: Constellations of Arab Art showcases works by some of the foremost modern and contemporary Arab artists, including Mahmoud Said, Nja Mahdaoui, Mona Hatoum, and Youssef Nabil.

“From the birth of civilization to the present day, the Arab world has produced a multitude of gifted artists, from painters and potters, to musicians and poets. Today, the region, and the UAE in particular, is at the forefront of major developments in art and culture internationally.  It is a great personal pleasure and source of satisfaction for me to share with audiences in the UAE a selection of Arab art drawn from the collection,” says Farhad Farjam, founder of The Farjam Foundation.

Encompassing a wide range of media, including paintings, sculptures and photography, the exhibition explores some of the defining styles and techniques in Arab art over the last century. The fusion of tradition and innovation, and of stylistic influences from across the globe, demonstrates the timelessness and the universal resonance of the art from the Middle East.

“The artists in the exhibition, a sample of those included in The Farjam Foundation at large, reflect the seasoned taste of a serious collector. Defying predictable categorizations, they offer a powerful reminder that letting art speak for itself encourages debate and sparks fresh perspectives,” commented Emilie Faure, Collection and Exhibitions Manager at The Farjam Foundation.

Nujoom reveals a broad range of styles and artistic concerns that pervade modern and contemporary Arab art.  The exhibition features two works by Egyptian artist Mahmoud Said, one of the Arab world's greatest modern painters. Also included in the exhibition is the master Paul Guiragossian whose work Festivites, 1986, is a striking example of his signature style.  Palestinian, Lebanese-born artist Mona Hatoum, famed for her large-scale installations, is represented by a powerful piece titled Over My Dead Body, a large billboard banner on which a miniature toy soldier ascends the artist's profile.

Showcasing over 40 works, the exhibition encompasses a diverse group of artists, from the renowned Mahmoud Said and Adam Henein, to young and emerging artists such as Lamia Naji and Emirati artist Maitha Huaraiz, the youngest artist featured at just 21 years old. Other Emirati artists showcased in the exhibition include internationally celebrated artists Abul Qader Al Raes and Lamya Gargash. Nujoom includes several monumentally large pieces, including the impressive Kaleidoscope, 2007 by Lara Baladi, and brings together mediums as diverse as painting, video, ceramics, and bronze.

The foremost ambition of The Farjam Foundation @ DIFC is art education. A number of educational programmes will run alongside the exhibition, giving audiences a greater understanding of the artists represented, the works on view, and the context in which they were produced.  The Farjam Foundation's popular First Wednesdays lunchtime guided visits will start again on Wednesday, 1 December. School and University Programmes are available throughout the exhibition's run.  For further information and to book a place for their class, teachers can visit www.farjamcollection.org


Notes to editors:

The Farjam Foundation @ DIFC

The Farjam Foundation @ DIFC showcases a rotating series of exhibitions drawn from the Farjam Foundation. A programme of educational events offers audiences the opportunity to learn more about the works on view and the context in which these were produced. 
All exhibitions and programmes are free and open to the public.  Due to the popularity of the programmes, visitors are advised to book in advance. The Farjam Foundation is open: Sunday to Thursday, 10 am to 8 pm; Saturday 12 pm to 8 pm.

Please visit www.farjamcollection.org for updates on events at The Farjam Foundation @ DIFC.

The Farjam Foundation at the DIFC is a non-profit, non-governmental institution generously supported by the Hafiz Foundation.

The Hafiz Foundation
The Hafiz Foundation was founded in 2008 to support outstanding initiatives within the visual arts, with a special emphasis on the greater Middle East. With the city of Dubai as its base, the Foundation aims to become a centre for production, preservation, and promotion of the arts at large. At the heart of the Foundation's goals is the development of educational opportunities for young Middle Eastern artists, students, scholars, curators, and art enthusiasts.
As a partner to both local and international cultural initiatives, the Foundation's recent activities include having supported the founding of the award-winning Middle Eastern arts magazine Bidoun,  support for local arts education programs, as well as the organization of a series of exhibitions displaying selected works from The Farjam Foundation.