Photo of Nazy Nazhand by Andrea Tese.
Art Middle East (AME) launched during last year’s Armory Show and is back this year with another focused program: an exhibition of work by Vahid Chamani, a book launch for Ahmed Mater, visits of Shirin Neshat and Shoja Nazari’s studios, a tour of Shirin Fakhim’s exhibition, and a panel discussion with Ahmed Alsoudani, Afruz Amighi, and Ahmed Mater. Whitewall spoke with AME founder Nazy Nazhand about this week’s highlights, her recent travels in the region, and what kind of art will come out of the recent protests in Egypt and Tunisia.
WHITEWALL: This is the second edition of Art Middle East during The Armory Show. What worked last year that you wanted to continue with this year?
NAZY NAZHAND: I consider last year as seeing if we could start off an idea. This year is closer and closer to the vision I have [for Art Middle East]. More than anything, this is a platform for promoting artists and creative collaborations. I spent the better part of last year traveling all over the area, to Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, and even London which has a great Middle Eastern contemporary art community. I’m always seeking the visionaries, and if I can create a platform to bring all of that together, to allow for the collaborations to come about, then I am doing something right. Then I am honoring that vision.
WW: What are some of this year’s program highlights?
NN: Now we are [better] able to show emerging artists. This year we are showing the artist Vahid Chamani with Canvas New York Art. And in my most recent travels in Istanbul I got the chance to get to know the group Edge of Arabia, a London-based organization and a dynamic group of individuals. They have set out to create an alternative platform for incredible exhibitions. Through them I met the artist Ahmed Mater who, aside from being a professional artist, is also a medical doctor, and has done really incredible work. He’s a part of a show in June at LACMA called “Gifts of the Sultan.” We are going to have a book launch for him this week.
WW: AME will also be holding an OPEN FORUM Panel discussion at The Armory Show that asks, How Have International Initiatives Affected Contemporary Middle Eastern Art? Why was this a topic you wanted to address and how did you choose the artists who are participating - Ahmed Alsoudani, Afruz Amighi, and Ahmed Mater?
NN: Ahmed Alsoudani and is going to be representing the Iraq at this year’s Venice Biennale, the first time after 35 years that Iraq will be present. Afruz Amighi is the recent winner of the Jameel Art Prize. And that got me thinking. If these large institutions are putting these artists on the map through pavilions, prizes (Walid Raad with the Hugo Boss Art Prize), does that change the dynamic? Does that change our perception? That’s where the panel discussion came from. I wanted to create a dialogue around this great group of artists. Let’s see what these artists, who have such different backgrounds and who are in different places now, have to say.
WW: You mentioned that you’ve been traveling quite a bit. Has anything on a recent trip struck you or surprised you?
NN: I was definitely drawn to the exhibits by Edge of Arabia. In Tel Aviv I saw video art and video artists who were really quite avant garde. There is this one unique difference: photography, it still not at the forefront. It’s still not as majorly recognized. There are some incredible artists and photographers, but I’m speaking beyond that. It’s still a medium that is not as familiar to the collectors or those showing artists. I’m hoping that will change.
WW: And given what’s been happening in the Middle East over the past few weeks, have you heard of any artists emerging out of the protests in Tunisia or Egypt?
NN: That’s something that is going to happen inevitably. You don’t have to be an artist to be truly affected by what’s happened there. I can’t say it’s happened just yet. Like with the green movement in Iran, a lot of art came from that. It’s why art is so important. There was an Egyptian artist, Ahmed Bassiouni, who lost his life during the protests. That’s the other side of it, when art is silenced. Hopefully what’s happening is going to create a sense of renewal for the citizens and affect the art that is created. I don’t know when we’ll see that but I’ll be watching, that’s for sure.
Ahmed Mater, Magnetism I, 2010.
Vahid Chamani, Untitled, 2010.
Ahmed Alsoudani, Untitled, 2010.
Shoja Azari, from Interrupted Series, 2010.
