al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art is a research center and archive dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the visual arts of the Arab world. Through a range of activities that include fellowships, research projects, conferences and colloquia, as well as the construction of a unique digital archive, al Mawrid is a major resource for scholars, independent researchers, and for educational and art institutions. Digitized content from our archival collections is available through the NYU Special Collections online repository and finding aid system.
Operating with a commitment to collective knowledge production as a means to decolonize cultural histories, the Center develops research and pedagogy based upon art narratives and practices from the region and the theoretical perspectives and debates that have been particular to the region in the modern period.
al Mawrid is centered around the construction and management of the Arab Art Archive, which acquires primary source materials pertaining to modern art across the Arab world, between 1850 to 1995. The Center works with artists, their families, collections, galleries, arts organizations, and other institutions throughout the region and around the world to digitize and produce research from a range of documentary material—including artist writings, journals, correspondence, exhibition materials, newspaper clippings, and photographs—pertaining to the history of modern art in the Arab countries.
al Mawrid also currently encompasses the Akkasah Photography Archive, which documents different histories and practices of photography in the broader region with a focus on the UAE and the Gulf, and Haraka: Experimental Lab for Arab Art and Social Thought, which takes the intellectual life of the region as a starting point for exploring alternative modes of knowledge production about its societies and history.
The Center is part of the NYUAD Research Institute and works in collaboration with faculty in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences serving faculty research and undergraduate education.
Center's Highlights
Sawt al-Arshīf AudioVisual Series
al Mawrid publications
Story of Water and Fire
Authored by poet, critic, translator, and author May Muzaffar, and translated by al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art (2023). Arabic edition published in 2021 by Arab Institute for Research and Publishing.
Yasser Alwan: Egypt Every Day by Shamoon Zamir
Read Professor Shamoon Zamir's new book, Yasser Alwan: Egypt Every Day published by Hatje Cantz (2022).
Order here
Recent Publications by al Mawrid's team members
Mahmoud Hammad, Arabic Writing no. 11
Read the latest essay on Syrian artist Mahmoud Hammad by Anneka Lenssen, al Mawrid Investigator and Associate Professor of Global Modern Art, UC Berkeley.
Egypt's Historical Image Re-exposed
Ibrahim Mohamed Ali's article, Egypt's Historical Image Re-exposed, published in the Minpaku Museum's monthly magazine.
Through the Lens: Latif Al Ani's Visions of Ancient Iraq
A beautifully illustrated exploration of how Latif Al Ani’s photographs and contemporary Iraqi artists continue to challenge the colonial appropriation of Iraq’s ancient past, with contribution by Ala Younis.
Order here
Inji Efflatoun Oxford Bibliographies Entry by Salwa Mikdadi and Patrick Kane
Read Professor Salwa Mikdadi and Professor Patrick Kane's entry on Egyptian painter and activist, Inji Efflatoun recently published in the Oxford Bibliographies.
Contact Us
Email: nyuad.almawrid@nyu.edu
Phone: +971 2 6287871
Mailing / Physical address:
al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art
New York University Abu Dhabi,
Campus Center C2-350, 352-354
P.O. Box 129188, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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