Manal AlDowayan, Hassan Sharif (Arabic) The Art Library - Discovering Arab Artists

The ninth and tenth volumes of The Art Library, a pioneering art volumes series that documents the most important modern and contemporary Arab artists.

These gorgeously designed volumes offer an informal, yet detailed introduction to the most prominent figures of Arab art. The collection is characterized by medium-size books, each one dedicated to a single artist, richly illustrated, and rigorously documented.

The publications, presented in English and Arabic editions, are launched seasonally, in spring and fall, two by two, in a sophisticated cardboard slipcase. Each slipcase presents a Saudi artist alongside a non-Saudi artist.

Manal AlDowayan (b. 1973, Saudi Arabia) is a conceptual artist whose work revolves around the ideas of active forgetting, modern archiving, and collective memory. She has worked with black-and-white photography, neon, large-scale installations, and participatory art. Hassan Sharif (b. 1951, Bandar Lengeh, Iran–d. 2016, Dubai, United Arab Emirates) lived and worked in Dubai. Recognized as a pioneer of conceptual art and experimental practice in the Middle East, Sharif’s artworks surpass the limits of discipline or a singular approach, encompassing performance, installation, drawing, painting, and assemblage. Christine Macel is Director of Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, and former chief curator at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Maya El Khalil is an independent curator based in Oxford, England. Catherine David is deputy director of the Musée national d’art moderne and head of the Research and Globalization department at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Omar Kholeif is Sharjah Art Foundation’s Director of Collections and Senior Curator.