With the Middle Eastern art scene expanding its boundaries, the debate on how it is expanding grows each day. Sotheby’s London auction expected to take place on Oct. 4 could be a good event for showing audiences that the Middle Eastern art scene is on the rise
Recent developments in Middle Eastern art are set to change people’s minds about the genre a year after Anne Summer Cocks wrote “Are we colonizing Middle Eastern art?” and experts said the genre was a fragile plant.
Moshiri-Blue Dome (photo from Sotheby’s London)
Even though Middle Eastern art auctions that take place in European cities would still raise eyebrows, developments in Middle Eastern cities and the presence of artists in the other countries have proven that Middle Eastern art is expanding beyond its borders.
Works by Middle Eastern artists that are exhibited at biennials and international art fairs in the Middle East and Europe also help those artists expand their boundaries.
The upcoming auction at Sotheby’s London is among these important events and might prove the strengthening of the Middle Eastern art scene.
The Middle East itself has now become home for foreign nationals who have submerged themselves in the culture that includes the art scene, according to Ruba Asfahani, Middle East specialist at Sotheby’s.
The auction, which will take place on Oct. 4 in London, will focus on works by modern and contemporary Arab and Iranian artists.
Comprised of 123 lots, the sale will include major works by leading modern artists such as Louay Kayyali, Fateh Moudarres and Aref el Rayess, as well as key pieces by some of the foremost contemporary artists, among them Farhad Moshiri, Ziad Antar and Yousef Nabil.
Sohrab Sepehri-Untitled (photo from Sotheby’s London)
Asfahani said reflecting the culture and current status of the market in the Middle East is something that Sotheby’s aims to achieve every year with the sales. “To do this, we make it a point to include artists from all parts of the Middle East as well as Iran,” she said in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News.
“Over the last six years, while this side of the market has been emerging and growing, the number of clients buying and selling outside of these nationalities has grown a lot. This allows us to cultivate the recognized names such as Farhad Moshiri and Paul Guiragossian, but it has also meant that the younger generation is given a good opportunity to approach the international market and gain appeal with clients they did not have access to previously.”
The Middle East market is expanding and purchasing power has shifted to the region, according to Vasıf Kortun, the curator of this year’s United Arab Emirates pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale.
Jawad Selim-Portrait of girl (photo from Sotheby’s London)
However, “we are speaking about a very large art heritage [Middle Eastern art] and it is very normal to see these developments,” Kortun said.
The Middle Eastern art scene is so vivid that it has a certain platform and indeed does not need any kind of support, Kortun said. “What Sotheby’s is doing a very normal thing.”
Iraqi section
The sale will be highlighted by seven Iraqi works, including a work by Jawad Salim.
The cultural aspect of the auction comes to the fore as Sotheby’s readies to offer seven works by seven Iraqi artists. Asfahani said today Iraq has a big impact on the international art world with the Venice Biennale and it is only a matter of time until the contemporary artists are able to continue working on this international platform.
The Iraqi section of the sale is vital to the history of the Arab art world, Asfahani said. With all the political turmoil, it is difficult to say whether Iraq will be the next rising art scene in the Arab world, but it has always had the history and talent to do so and should be given this opportunity.
“The period of turmoil during which these artists worked is of great significance, as the artists sought to learn innovative means to create art, and their effort led to the creation of some of the Middle East’s finest work,” Asfahani said.