Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula

Khaleej Modern develops out of art historian Dr. Aisha Stoby’s research into modern art movements in the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and The United Arab Emirates. Among its residents, this region is collectively known as “the Khaleej” (“Gulf” in Arabic). The exhibition timeline begins in the early twentieth century, tracing the evolution of visual art movements as the discovery of oil began to transform the region. This exhibition also charts the evolution of public and private spaces and their relationship to national identity as expressed through arts practices.

Dr. Aisha Stoby is an art historian and curator who has published and lectured widely on modernism in the Global South, with a particular interest in modern art movements in the Arabian Peninsula. She most recently taught global art theory at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She has curated exhibitions of Omani art both locally and globally. She is curator of the inaugural Oman Pavilion to the Venice Biennale.

Khaleej Modern draws on her dissertation, written for her PhD at SOAS, entitled ‘Modern Art Movements in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia (1940 – 2007)’. Prior to this she received her master’s degree from London’s Royal College of Art in Curating Contemporary Art and holds a bachelor’s degree in History of Art and Archaeology from SOAS.

Image: Ibrahim Ismail, Building of Ships, 1966
Oil on canvas board, 30 x 40 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah.

Curated by

• Dr. Aisha Stoby, Art Historian