No one needs western-style “fine art” with some orientalist flourishes
By Anna Somers Cocks | From issue 204, July/August 2009
Published online 8.7.09 (opinion)
Middle Eastern art is on the rise. There are more countries represented at the Venice Biennale this year than ever before; Middle Eastern art is now visible in New York and London; most important of all, in the Middle East itself, visual art is beginning to be hot, at least with the cosmopolitan elite, instead of lagging far behind poetry and music.
Now there is the jostling for position. Who is going to define what this art should be? Who gets in to the fast track? Curators and critics, auction houses and dealers, foundations and museums are all in the game. There is a lot at stake, because Middle Eastern art is still a fragile plant..
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For the Jameel Prize to have its own identity it needs to hunt out the designers who come out of different habits of life, just as the Aga Khan Award for Architecture seeks out architecture that answers the specific needs of Islamic countries. Then maybe it will give us in the west something new to look at, while inspiring architects and industrial manufacturers in Islamic countries, and breathing new life into the traditional crafts.
Complete at source: http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Are%20we%20colonialising%20Middle%20Eastern%20art?/18604
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