I recently set up an exhibition in the headquarters of the Humanistic Institute for Development Cooperation (Hivos) in The Hague. The works are by the young Syrian artist Mahmoud Dayoub. Hivos headquarters are situated on the Raamweg 16 in The Hague and the exhibition can be seen every weekday during office hours (8am to 6pm) until 7 December 2011.
Mahmoud Dayoub, untitled; oil on canvas, 180 x 140 cm, 2011
This post is in Dutch because it concerns a Dutch-language radio programme I made about contemporary art in the Middle East, presented as a course in 4 chapters (one every evening)
Op verzoek van het VPRO programma ‘De Avonden’ heb ik vier avonden lang een ‘cursus’ gegeven over hedendaagse kunst in het Midden-Oosten. De uitleveringen werden van 28 juni t/m 1 juli uitgezonden.
Aflevering 1: algemene introductie
Aflevering 2: hedendaagse kunst in Saoedi Arabie
Aflevering 3: de verdwenen kunstenaars van Irak
Aflevering 4: kunst in Syrie en huidige toestand
Iedere aflevering begint tussen de 3 en 6 minuten na aanvang van het programma en duurt zo’n 10 minuten
RobertK presentation of Middle Eastern art at Flying Dinner, Paris. Photo Lea Santamaria
The Flying Dinner team (curator and contemporary art specialist Samantha Barroero and art & wine-expert Linda Grabe) invited me to give a presentation of contemporary Middle Eastern art in Paris, for a select group of collectors, curators and other specialists that were brought together for a lovely Moroccan lunch. The event took place on March 19 2011, after I returned from the Sharjah Biennial and Art Dubai. Continue reading
Installation View of the New Middle East
The wave of popular uprisings throughout the Arab world have revealed a new Middle East – young, dynamic, secular, pragmatic and creative – which few people in the West knew about. It did not however come out of nowhere: as this exhibition shows, contemporary Middle Eastern culture has been developing very quickly over these last few years. Continue reading
Coming soon...
On Thursday 10 June I’ll be presenting my recent book at Mediamatic, on the Vijzelstraat 68 in Amsterdam. The booklaunch starts at 6 pm and I’ll give a presentation of current trends in Middle Eastern contemporary art. Drinks and music for all – don’t miss it!
Performance organized by me on 22 Sept in the city hall of the Hague
On 26 September a group of Snow Whites will invade the city hall of The Hague. This performance by the French choreographer Catherine Baÿ will be accompanied by an sound and video installation on the adjacent Spui Plein and an exhibition in <tag>, a temporary exhibition space nearby. Continue reading