Alcove: Intimate Essays on Arab Modernist Artists, Volume I
By Myrna Ayad.
Intimate accounts of Arabic modernist artists from Huguette Caland to Hamed Nada and Etel Adnan
Compiling testimonies from relatives, friends and students of Arabic modernist artists, and authored by Dubai-based writer Myrna Ayad, this volume celebrates the lives, careers and personalities of some of the region’s pioneering figures. Featuring archival material and images of artworks and of the artists themselves—in their studios, at exhibitions, at social gatherings—the essays span the 1960s through to the 1980s, and discuss artists including Saloua Raouda Choucair, Huguette Caland, Helen El Khal, Etel Adnan, Margaret Nakhla, Menhat Hilmy, Gazbia Sirry, Naziha Selim, Madiha Umer, Jumana Al Husseini, Maliheh Afnan, Baya Mahieddine, Mounira Mously, Mona Saudi, Shafic Abboud, Aref El Rayess, Paul Guiragossian, Hamed Abdallah, Hamed Nada, Abdel Hady El Gazzar, Adam Henein and Rafa Nasiri. Myrna Ayad (born 1982) is the author of Sheikh Zayed: An Eternal Legacy, Dubai Wonder and the National series "Remembering the Artist."
Huguette Caland, "Bribes de corps," 1973, is from 'Alcove: Intimate Essays on Arab Modernist Artists.'
Asim Abu Shakra’s 1988 oil painting on paper, “Garters,” is reproduced from Alcove: Intimate Essays on Arab Modernist Artists, published by Beirut-based Kaph Books. Beautifully designed, clothbound and printed on lovely uncoated paper, this enlightening compendium of testimonies from relatives, friends and students of Arab Modernist artists is authored by Dubai-based writer Myrna Ayad. About his uncle Asim Abu Shakra—originally from Umm Al Fahem in the West Bank of Palestine, but later of Tel Aviv, where his work was celebrated—Karim Abu Shakra writes, “Like the cactus, he was also resilient. The symbol that would become the hallmark of his oeuvre first caught his attention in the early 1980s, when a potted cactus on a neighbor’s windowsill sparked an immediate connection. Like the plant, uprooted from its natural habitat, separated from the rest of its species, and living in isolation in a pot, so too my uncle felt deracinated in Tel Aviv. And, again, in spite of all this, like the potted cactus, he continued to thrive. … For Palestinians, the cactus holds both metaphoric and linguistic meaning: the saber (cactus) was associated with Palestinian farmers and farmland, and was used as a tool for defining land boundaries, largely because of its resistant and robust roots. Saber in spoken Arabic means patience, tenacity and perseverance—qualities that speak directly to the Palestinian identity. The cactus continues to feature in Palestinian art, but in the case of Uncle Asim in particular, the cactus was him.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 6.25 x 9.5 in. / 324 pgs / 240 color / 80 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $40.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $56 ISBN: 9786148035555 PUBLISHER: Kaph Books AVAILABLE: 5/21/2024 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AU/NZ AFR ME
Alcove: Intimate Essays on Arab Modernist Artists, Volume I
Published by Kaph Books. By Myrna Ayad.
Intimate accounts of Arabic modernist artists from Huguette Caland to Hamed Nada and Etel Adnan
Compiling testimonies from relatives, friends and students of Arabic modernist artists, and authored by Dubai-based writer Myrna Ayad, this volume celebrates the lives, careers and personalities of some of the region’s pioneering figures. Featuring archival material and images of artworks and of the artists themselves—in their studios, at exhibitions, at social gatherings—the essays span the 1960s through to the 1980s, and discuss artists including Saloua Raouda Choucair, Huguette Caland, Helen El Khal, Etel Adnan, Margaret Nakhla, Menhat Hilmy, Gazbia Sirry, Naziha Selim, Madiha Umer, Jumana Al Husseini, Maliheh Afnan, Baya Mahieddine, Mounira Mously, Mona Saudi, Shafic Abboud, Aref El Rayess, Paul Guiragossian, Hamed Abdallah, Hamed Nada, Abdel Hady El Gazzar, Adam Henein and Rafa Nasiri.
Myrna Ayad (born 1982) is the author of Sheikh Zayed: An Eternal Legacy, Dubai Wonder and the National series "Remembering the Artist."
