Sharjah: 21 March 2012: His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasmi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated here today a ground-breaking new exhibition on the world-famous, 19th century British artist Owen Jones at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization. HH was accompanied by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Salem Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah .The guests were received by Manal Ataya, Director-General of Sharjah Museums Department, Dr. Mariam Rosser Owen, curator of the V&A's Middle Eastern Department, Aisha Bin Deemas, Curator of the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, as well as a large number of senior directors from SMD.
The opening ceremony, which received a remarkable media interest and converges, was attended by Sheikh Essam bin Saqr bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Office of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah , Sheikh Salem bin Abdul Rahman bin Salem Al Qasimi, Director of the Office of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah , HE Abd Al-Rahman Bin Ali Al-Jarwan,Advisor to His Highness, Major General Humaid Mohammed Al Hudaidi, Commander in Chief of Sharjah , HE Khamis bin Salem bin Khamis Al Suwaidi, Chairman of the Department of Suburbs and Villages Affairs , HE Abdullah Al Owais, president of the Department of Culture and Information , HE Mohammed Dhiab Al Mousa, Adviser at the Emiri Court,HE Hana Saif AL Swaidi Chairman of Environment and Protected Areas Authority in Sharjah and prominent Arab and international artists and media representatives.
The ceremony started with a reception of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasmi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, who toured the exhibition, which is being held for the first time in the Middle East, in the UAE.
Shaikh Sultan expressed his extreme admiration for the collection displayed at the exhibition & thanked organizers of this exhibition, which adds significantly to Sharjah's landmark achievements.
Due to its outstanding contributions to art and culture, Sharjah was chosen as the only venue in the Middle East to show this spectacular touring exhibition, which was previously presented at the Alhambra in Granada and will travel on to South Korea in July.
The exhibition draws upon treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) collections to tell the story of Owen Jones, a highly versatile architect and designer whose explorations of Islamic design contributed to the reshaping of the 19th century British design.
Speaking on the occasion, Manal Ataya, SMD Director General, said" we are extremely proud that the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization was selected to act as the only venue in the Middle East region to host the Owen Jones exhibition and showcase his outstanding contribution -a fact that underscores the longstanding reputation of Sharjah as a capital of Arab and Islamic culture."
She said the exhibition will provide unprecedented opportunity to illustrate Jones' deep passion and respect for Islamic art, design and architecture, and demonstrates how the West looked towards the Islamic world to create a much-needed modern style within design and architecture".
Ataya added that hosting this exhibition corresponds with the museum's ongoing role in enhancing the cultural scene in the UAE and further boosting the emirate's status as a cultural hub in the region and the world.
On her part, Dr. Mariam Rosser Owen, curator of the V&A's Middle Eastern Department, said: "Owen Jones, a leading light in the revolution of Islamic art's impact on British design, was a skilled architect and designer, and one who gave Islamic art a new sophistication and greater integrity. This exhibition will show how and why Jones was able to bring this great change about."
Expressing her happiness at Sharjah's hosting of the first Owen Jones exhibition in the Middle East, Rosser Owen added that much care had been taken to select Jones' best and most representative works for the show, which span from rare 19th century watercolours, photographs, prints, books and design drawings to treasures from the V&A' vast collections of sculpture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, furniture and textiles.
Aisha Deemas, Curator of the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, said that the Museum is always keen to showcase famous international artists and art collections of relevance to the Museum's mission in promoting Arab and Islamic art and culture. She stated that working with the Victoria and Albert Museum again was a special delight, given our previous, very successful collaboration over the Jameel Prize exhibition in 2010.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, panel discussions will be held to cover several themes and topics related to the exhibition. Several workshops for school children, university students and disabled people, as well as family-designed programmes will be held throughout the four months of the exhibition. Details can be found on the SMD website.
Photographers are invited to participate in a photography competition to celebrate the exhibition. Interested participants should engage with the Owen Jones theme in their photography and submit their images to adults@sharjahmuseums.ae.
Entry for the competition is open from 25 March-31 May. The competition is open to photographers aged 18 years and above The selected winners will be announced on 10 June and their photographs will be displayed as part of the Owen Jones exhibition from 10-15 June.
HH Ruler of Sharjah inaugurates Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist at Sharjah Art Museum
His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasmi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated also yesterday night Tuesday March 20, the exhibition Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist, which is hosted by Sharjah Museums Department at the Sharjah Art Museum. HH was accompanied by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Salem Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah.The guests were received by Manal Ataya, Director-General of Sharjah Museums Department, the artist Ibrahim El-Salahi, Lisa Binder, curator of contemporary art at the Museum for African Art, New York, and Salah M. Hassan, guest curator, Cornell University, NY, Elsie McCabe President of Museum for African Art, as well as a large number of senior directors from SMD.The opening ceremony, which received a remarkable media interest and converges, was attended by Sheikh Essam bin Saqr bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Office of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr bin Hamad Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Department of Public Works, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, Director General of Sharjah Statistics Centre, and Sheikh Salem bin Abdul Rahman bin Salem Al Qasimi, Director of the Office of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah,, HE Khamis bin Salem bin Khamis Al Suwaidi, Chairman of the Department of Suburbs and Villages Affairs, and HE Salem bin Obaid Al Hassan Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Municipal Council of Sharjah, HE Mohammed Dhiab Al Mousa, Adviser at the Emiri Court, and HE Jamal Al Tarif, Adviser at the Office of HH the Ruler of Sharjah & prominent Arab and international artists and media representatives.
The ceremony started with a reception of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasmi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, who toured the exhibition, which is being held for the first time in the Middle East, in the UAE.
Shaikh Sultan expressed his extreme admiration for the paintings and artworks displayed at the exhibition due to their historical, artistic and human value & thanked organizers of this exhibition, which adds significantly to Sharjah's landmark achievements.
The exhibition, organized by the Museum for African Art in New York, will run through 31 May. It will coincide with the touring exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), titled "Owen Jones: Islamic design, Discovery and Vision," which will be held at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization from 21 March -15 July.
Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist is a retrospective of the famous Sudanese artist Ibrahim El-Salahi's exemplary work that recognizes his rich contributions to contemporary art. The retrospective comprises 80 works spanning over five decades of the artist's career. It traces work produced during El-Salahi's travels from Sudan, while in detention as a political prisoner, and later in self-imposed exile in Qatar, and on his continued spiritual journey in Oxford, United Kingdom.
El-Salahi's imprisonment and self-imposed exile considerably affected the aesthetic orientation of his art works, yet his unique style exceeds all geographic and cultural boundaries. His trademark linear style remains a pre-eminent unifying device expressing the intuitive merging of Islamic spirituality with critical social consciousness. The exhibition shows how El-Salahi's artworks and critical writings have contributed significantly to enriching the movement of modernism in Africa and the Arab world, as well as to inspiring many generations of artists in Sudan.
El-Salahi's masterpiece titled "Vision of the Tomb" is the main highlight at the exhibition. It combines the abstract elements of the Arabic letter with Sudanese earthy colors and expressive forms. "Vision of the Tomb" reflects the Khartoum School's style which explored the abstract and representational symbolic potential of the Arabic letter, as realized in Sudanese script and decorated by African ornaments.
The exhibition, which highlights drawings, paintings, and literary ephemera on loan from international institutions and private collections, shows El-Salahi's deep reflections on human nature and spirituality which are clearly manifested in his works.
Speaking on the occasion, Manal Ataya, Sharjah Museums Department's Director-General states, "hosting this exhibition, which highlights the exemplary work of contemporary artist Ibrahim El-Salahi is aimed at honoring El-Salahi and his journey of art creativity and critical writings". It also comes in line with our commitment to highlighting the most prominent artists on the art arena and introducing their outstanding experiences that inspired many generations of artists in Sudan and other places in Africa. The exhibition offers a wonderful opportunity, to the public and those interested in Islamic art and contemporary art, to benefit from the work of one of the most influential contemporary artists and recognize his prestigious works, writings and criticism which contributed mainly to the movement of modernism in Africa and the Arab World."
Ataya stressed that the exhibition would add a new feather to Sharjah's cap of landmark achievements on the cultural arena. She added, "we host art exhibitions and cultural activities in line with our commitment to the approach laid by His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and because we are fully aware of the important role that arts can play in bridging the gap between human cultures and peoples." She thanked artist Ibrahim El-Salahi, Ms. Lisa Binder, Dr. Salah Hassan, as well as all the Art Museum's staff for their efforts in organizing this prestigious event.
About the V&A
The V&A is the world's leading museum of art and design with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. It was established to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A's collections, which span over 2000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world, continue to intrigue, inspire and inform.
www.vam.ac.uk
Ibrahim El-Salahi studied at the School of Design at Gordon Memorial College in Khartoum, attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London, and was head of the Painting Department at the College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum. El-Salahi's work has been included in major exhibitions such as The Short Century, PS1, New York, 2002; Interventions: a dialogue between the modern and the contemporary, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar, 2010; and The Future of Tradition - The Tradition of Future: Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art, Haus der Kunst, Berlin Germany, 2011.
El-Salahi's art is in numerous private and public collections including the Museum of Modern Art; Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Hampton University Art Museum, Virginia; New National Gallery, Berlin; Iwalewa-Haus, Bayreuth, Germany; National Gallery of Victoria, Sydney; and the Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia. El-Salahi has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, 1964-65; Order of Knowledge, Arts and Letters, Sudan, 1975; Honorary Award, Prince Klaus Fund, 2001.
A Visionary Modernist is guest curated by Dr. Salah M. Hassan, Director of the Africana Studies and Research Center and Professor of African and African Diaspora Art History and Visual Culture at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist is organized by the Museum for African Art, New York, and has been supported, in part, by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support has been provided by the Sharjah Art Museum and the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development.
About Sharjah Museums Department:
The Sharjah Museums Department (SMD) was established in 2006 by His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, as an independent government entity that aims to provide highest standard of museums to Sharjah's residents and visitors, by offering a range of facilities, organizing specialized exhibitions, and launching educational programmes, in addition to publishing research and reaching all social groups. SMD manages more than 17 sites in the emirate, covering most types of art, Islamic culture, archaeology, heritage, sciences, aquaculture and the history of the emirate of Sharjah and the region.
SMD aims to provide the highest standards of museum services through its museums, galleries, educational and research programmes, social communication programmes for Sharjah's residents and visitors from the region. The vision of the department is to improve understanding, appreciation and respect for Sharjah's identity and the value of its cultural and natural heritage locally and internationally.
For more information please visit the website: www.sharjahmuseums.ae
For more information, please contact:
Samar Abu Hantash
SAHARA Communications
Tel: +971 4 3298996
Mob; 00971 50 5565869
Email: samar@saharagcc.com
Web Site: www.saharagcc.com
Budour Al Muhairi
Public Relations Coordinator
Sharjah Museums Department
Tel: 971 + 6 5197234
Email: balmuhairi@sharjahmuseums.ae
Website: www.sharjahmuseums.ae
© Press Release 2012
