Haverford's Carol Solomon Curates Installation, Will Appear at Museum Panel Discussion In New York

An installation created by French-Algerian artist Zoulikha Bouabdellah and curated by Carol Solomon, visiting associate professor of Art History, Independent College Programs, will be on view August 26th through October 4th at New York's Museum of Arts and Design.

The piece is part of an exhibition featuring the winners of the first Abraaj Capital Art Prize, which was established by the Dubai-based private equity company Abraaj Capital to give international exposure to artists from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. The prize supports the creation of ambitious works by these artists and encourages collaborations with established and internationally acclaimed curators in an effort to build links between Middle Eastern and Western art worlds.

The works produced by the three Abraaj Capital Art Prize winners were first unveiled in March at the international art fair Art Dubai. The installation by Bouabdellah, who grew up in Algeria and now lives in France, is titled Walk on the Sky. Pisces and references ancient Persian astrology and Arab legend. The work features light-emitting diodes mounted on an aluminum ceiling to create 76 polygonal stars varying in size and color to form the constellation of Pisces, which is reflected on a floor made of polished stainless steel. Boubadellah calls the polygon star“a symbol of the interaction of cultures” that appears not only in Islamic art but in Christian and Jewish design.

Also part of the museum exhibition is a work by Iranian artist Nazgol Ansarinia, who created a hand-woven rug that features scenes from contemporary life in Iran. Turkey's Kutlug Ataman contributes a recorded performance piece filmed in Turkey. The video, based on a Turkish fable of tragic love, looks to illustrate the tension between Turkey's eastern heritage and its western outlook.

You can meet Carol Solomon at The Museum of Arts and Design in New York City on September 10, where she will be participating in a panel discussion about the growing fascination with the political, cultural, and artistic life of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. What does this growing international attention mean for artists? How do artists navigate the sometime contradictory expectations of their local supporters and the international art market? What are the constraints and opportunities that are specific to creating contemporary art outside of the US and Europe? Moderator Savita Apte, Chair of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize, along with curators Leeza Ahmady and Carol Solomon will discuss unique issues surrounding the creation and exhibition of contemporary art in this region. In conjunction with MAD's presentation of the Abraaj Capital Art Prize exhibition.

For more information about the exhibition go to: http://madmuseum.org/