Barjeel Art Foundation launches fifth exhibition ''Alienation''

Sharjah, 23rd March 2012 (WAM) - The Barjeel Art Foundation has announced the opening of its fifth exhibition, "Alienation", on March 24th 2012 to coincide with the closing of this years Art Week.

The exhibition is being held at the Maraya Art Centre which is located at Al Qasba, in Sharjah.

Marking another curated exhibition of the collection, this latest exhibition will investigate the term "alienation", which means a state of being detached or estranged, and how alienation can be a consequence of various geopolitical and social barriers.

Giuseppe Moscatello, Maraya Art Centre Curator, said: "We are delighted to be hosting an important curated exhibition which is dealing with something we can all relate to, the subject of alienation. The Barjeel Art Foundation which is also part of Maraya art centre is always at the forefront of innovative ideas and performing an important task of introducing talented artists to the region".

Drawn from a collection of over 500 pieces from Sultan Saud Al-Qassemis personal collection, Barjeels upcoming exhibition will feature Melbourne-based artist Raafat Ishaks Responses to an immigration request from one-hundred and ninety-four governments 2006-2009, which chronicles the responses of the artists formal request for citizenship to a majority of the worlds recognised governments. Painted on a series of 194 painted MDF panels, the work draws on the banalities and inconsistencies of ideas of nationhood, as well as despondent conceptions of home and citizenship.

Also highlighted in the show will be Larissa Sansours poignant preliminary series of photographs for her work Nation Estate, which responds to the diminishing territory of Palestine and finding innovative, often otherworldly ways to propose solutions. Exhibited in the region for the first time since the artist was revoked of her nomination for the 2011 Elys?e Prize of Switzerlands Mus?e de l'Elys?e following a request from the main prize sponsor Lacoste to disassociate itself from the political implications of the artists work.

The exhibition will be launched on Saturday, March 24th at 7pm by Barjeels founder Sultan Saud Al-Qassemi and the foundations collections manager and exhibition curator, Mandy Merzaban.

"The works featured in this exhibition highlight how alienation is manifested in scenarios as diverse as geopolitical relations and personal daily experiences" says Ms. Merzaban The works investigate the banalities of immigration processes, as well as ideas of national identity, urbanisation and the human condition".

Alienation will also feature works by interdisciplinary artists Akram Zaatari, Abdulnasser Gharem, Walid Siti, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sama Alshaibi and Faycal Baghriche.

"The main focus of our initiative is to create a resource for a nuanced story of the Arab world and its diversity, through art," says Sheikh Sultan.