Exhibitions

Al-Hallaj and The Tawasin

Amar Dawood 3 Dec 2013 - 20 Jan 2014 Meem Gallery presents Amar Dawod's first solo exhibition in Dubai, displaying twenty-six mixed-media works by the artist. The exhibition is dedicated to the mystical writings of Mansur al-Hallaj, the famous Sufi thinker, writer and teacher who was executed in 922 for heresy. Drawing specifically on al-Hallaj's celebrated Kitab al-Tawasin (The Tawasin) as a point of departure for this series, Dawod represents his understanding of the eleven verses of The Tawasin in vivid and muted colours Read more

Modern Iraqi Art : A Collection

13 May - 27 Jun 2013 Meem Gallery is pleased to present an extensive collection of works, including paintings and mixed-media compositions, by modern and contemporary Iraqi artists. Modern Iraqi Art: A Collection takes viewers through the decades of Iraq's modern and contemporary art production. Read more

Moving Forward by Day

Khaled Hafez 13 Mar - 2 May 2013 Moving Forward By The Day presents a series of large-scale mixed-media works which examine ideas relating to personal and collective identity and memory. Inspired by the sacred funerary texts from the Book of the Dead (c. 1550 BCE), this series confronts viewers with ironic renderings of cultural tropes, as Hafez believes that 'we are at a point in history where there is cultural recycling: visual, conceptual...' By drawing on symbols and forms culled from ancient Egyptian iconography and international contemporary culture, Hafez creates thought-provoking compositions recognizable to both local and international audiences.

This is Hafez's first exhibition at Meem Gallery, and the first solo exhibitions he has held in the Gulf region. He has held solo exhibitions in Egypt, where he lives and works, France, Italy, Spain and Cameroon and has work in public international collections including Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki; Saatchi Collection, London; MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp; Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art, Sarajevo; Horcynus Orca Foundation, Messina; and Mali National Museum, Bamako.

His works have been displayed in Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, 2012; State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, 2011; Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark, 2007 & 2011; Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Sao Paolo, 2011; Yuchengco Museum, Manila, 2011; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2010 & 2012; The New Museum NY, 2010; Casa Arabe, Madrid, 2010; Saatchi Gallery, London, 2009; Queens Museum, NY, 2008; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 2008 & 2012; Tate Modern, London, 2007; MuHKA Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, 2007 & 2011; and Kunstmuseum, Bonn, 2007. Read more

Rugs

Parviz Tanavoli 15 Jan - 28 Feb 2013 This exhibition displays Parviz Tanavoli's recent rugs collection. More commonly known for his sculptures and as one of the founders of the 'Saqqakhaneh School', Tanavoli has for many decades researched, written about, collected and created rugs. The artist's ongoing interest in Iranian visual culture has pervaded his artistic practice, which spans over fifty years, as well as his creation of rugs: pictorial, lion, prayer design, and gabbeh. Subjects explored in his rug designs are not only culled from the tribal and nomadic arts and culture of Iran but from the themes found in his art, such as Farhad the Mountain Carver, Lovers, Poet, Lion, Bird and Cage. He also draws inspiration from traditional Persian literature, most notably the mythological stories of King Hushang Shah and Sheikh San'an. In 1973, Tanavoli founded the Tehran Rug Society, organizing two tribal weave exhibitions in 1975 and 1976.

The first solo exhibition displaying his rug designs was held in Tehran's Zand Gallery in 1978. From 1975-92 his Lion Rugs of Fars exhibition, which displayed his personal collection of lion rugs, toured the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Iran. Following the 1979 revolution, and the Iran-Iraq war, socio-political circumstances prevented him from displaying his sculptures in Iran, leading him to focus on designing and producing gabbehs. His first gabbeh exhibition was held in Vienna's Bessim Gallery in 1986, followed by others in London, Zurich and Cologne. A selection of his rugs are held at the Tate Modern, London, Kerman Museum and in several private collections. This is Tanavoli's second exhibition - in 2009 his sculptures were exhibited alongside photographic works by Abbas Kiarostami - at Meem Gallery. His work was also presented by Meem at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair in 2010 and 2011; the first display exhibited a selection of Tanavoli's bronze sculptures (with the paintings of Iraqi artist, Dia Azzawi), and the second display showcased his monumental, stainless-steel, heech sculpture. Read more