Suzy Sikorski, Sharjah Art Museum. Photo courtesy of Reem Al Shihabi
Abdulnasser Gharem. Concrete Block (Red and White) 2013. Image courtesy of Edge of Arabia.
After over three years’ worth of interviewing artists and trekking throughout the Arabian Gulf region, the time has come for me to publish my findings onto the mainstream. Traveling across the desert sands with my camera, tripod and voice recorder, via public buses, trains and taxis, I have been raiding these artist’s studios filled with old messy paintbrushes, endless supplies of dates and tea, old trophies and newspaper articles. I have been collecting their memories and finding the missing puzzle pieces of an art history that have been left virtually unrecorded.
My passion to interview artists began while studying in the United Arab Emirates in 2014. Through happenstance (as the best things in life are always unplanned) I met Wael Gharem, the brother of artist Abdulnasser Gharem, who is one of the most well-known artists in the Saudi Arabian art scene. Wael was eager to sit down with me for hours and support his brother's art practice and movement he was creating in Saudi. He made sure I Skyped his brother to let him know I want to listen to his story and was eager to promote his cause. From then I was taken under the wing of one of the most progressive artists within the Gulf. I considered myself like an apprentice (virtually at least through Skype) within Gharem Studio, Abdulnasser's studio space in Riyadh. As I returned to finish my degree in New York while continuing to learn about art history and the Middle East, I now was understanding the complex international art world as seen from Saudi Arabian eyes. Building my foundations through these conversations, I received first hand knowledge of the art scene there and a list of recommended artists in the Emirates to meet as soon as possible (among the likes of Hassan Sharif, Mohammed Kazem and Abdul Qader Al Rais to name a few). In order to piece together the art scenes of the region, it was important for me to meet the pioneers, to better understand how the art movements formed across the Gulf. Equipped with this newfound job to speak with these artists and copies of Canvas and Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia magazines in hand, I dedicated myself to finding a way to live halfway across the world in the United Arab Emirates again. This quest later fruitioned into meeting artists of all generations, writing my thesis on UAE Art History and ultimately being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in Dubai to continue this research.
Understanding the need to archive and promote these stories I heard, I have created Mid East Art as a chance to trace the rising artists today with the pioneers of the Middle Eastern art scene.
What can Mid East Art be for you? For those who live in the Middle Eastern region, this is a chance to witness the stories, the life changing events and shared memories of your neighbors. To those unsure of continuing their arts practice, this is to further boost confidence that there is a network of artists that are eager to listen to your ideas. To those outside the Gulf as I myself was, this is your window into the lives of people from here. It is a rare opportunity for you to experience these artists in their studies in intimate settings that cannot be translated from newspaper articles and sensational headlines. Artists, art enthusiasts and non-art lovers alike, I hope we may all learn about the human journey through these interviews. I hope we may all empathize with the struggles of conforming, of falling and getting back up again, of loss, moving, and finding displacement within an environment that is changing so quickly before our eyes.
I look forward to keeping you updated along the way!
Sincerely,
Suzy Sikorski, Founder, Mid East Art
Intro Video to Mid East Art can be found here