Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast

Middle East Art Is Not Calligraphy

February 06, 2023 Naghmeh Sohrabi, Karen Spira, Ramyar D. Rossoukh Season 1 Episode 1
Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast
Middle East Art Is Not Calligraphy
Show Notes Transcript

When you think of the Middle East, chances are that modern art is not the first thing that comes to mind. In our first episode of Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast, we speak with the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, who argues that modern art is a key component of protest movements across the contemporary Middle East. Join host Naghmeh Sohrabi as she and Al Qassemi discuss misconceptions surrounding the link between politics and art, the significance of modern art in the Middle East, and the history and role of women artists in the region. 

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, an Emirati columnist and researcher, and the founder of Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah, UAE.

Naghmeh Sohrabi, director for research at the Crown Center, and the Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor of Middle East History.

Editorial team: Naghmeh Sohrabi, Karen Spira, Ramyar D. Rossoukh
Producer: Karen Spira
Audio engineer: Levon Henry
Podcast art: Chae Lee
Theme music: "Sleeky" by ComaStudio, Pixabay

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The opinions and findings expressed in this podcast belong to the speakers exclusively and do not reflect those of the Crown Center or Brandeis University....

Artists / Movements Mentioned in E01:

Tamam Al-Akhal - Palestinian artist (2:55)
Ismail Shammout - Palestinian artist (2:55)
Saqqakhana - art movement in Iran (5:48)
Baghdad Modern Art Group - art movement in Iraq (5:53)
Freedom Monument - Baghdad monument designed by Jewad Salim and Rifat Chadirji (6:30)
Azadi Tower - Tower in Tehran commissioned by the Shah and designed by Hossein Amanat (9:42)
Alaa Salah and Sudan's Revolution (12:05)
Monir Farmanfarmaian - Irani artist (13:54)
Behjat Sadr - Irani artist (14:04)
Inji Aflatoun - Egyptian artist (14:15)
Kamel el-Telmissany - Egyptian artist and mentor to Inji Aflatoun (16:08)
Inji Aflatoun Paintings in Prison (18:05)
Betty LaDuke on Inji Aflatoun (19:48)
Artists of the Saqqakhana Movement (22:44)
Jewad Salim - Iraqi artist and founder of Baghdad Modern Art Group (23:21)
Shakir Hassan Al Said - Iraqi artist & founder of Baghdad Modern Art Group (23:21)
Neo-Pharaonism - Egyptian art movement inspired by Pharaonic art (24:10)
Kamal Boullata - Palestinian artist (24:34)
Monir Farmanfarmaian at MFA in Boston (25:40)
Wasma'a Chorbachi (25:47)
Shahnameh Folio from the 16th Century (26:10)
Fahrelnissa Zeid - Turkish artist (26:18)
Mahmoud Said - Egyptian artist (26:38)
Farhad Moshiri - Iranian artist (26:40)
Ben Enwonwu - Nigerian artist (27:08)
'Taking Shape' at the McMullen Museum - Boston College 2021 (28:46)
Parviz Tanavoli - Iranian Sculptor (30:14)
Parviz Tanavoli - Big Heech, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto (30:33)
Munira Nusseibeh - Palestinian artist who incorporated sand into her work (33:30)