Arts and Culture

AGSIW and Alserkal Avenue hosted performances and talks at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC by leading Gulf-based artists. With this event, AGSIW celebrated its third anniversary of examining the Gulf Arab states in all their complexity. Speakers Ahaad al-Amoudi, Saudi Contemporary Artist Farah Al Qasimi, Emirati Artist and Musician Vikram Divecha, Artist Kosmas Nikolaou,...

This panel, part of the 2018 Gulf Arts and Culture Symposium, examined the proliferation of art districts in Gulf cities, covering the involvement of government agencies and the private sector in the development of art districts and consider urban and architectural strategies for integration of these districts within the city. The discussion considered regional case...

Over the last few years many cities have attempted to integrate cultural developments within their overall planning strategy.

Dubai greeted the new year with a picture frame – a really large one. It is located in Zabeel Park, straddling what is referred to in local parlance as “old” Dubai and its “new” counterpart. Over the years, this frame structure has grown in height distinguished by a large void through which both sides of...

Ulafa’a is a Bahraini art collective that flourished in response to the 2011 Bahraini uprising. It was established by Tamadher Al-Fahal and Nada Al-Aradi in 2012 and has grown over time to include other young Bahraini artists. “I am Sunni and my other co-founder is Shia,” said Tamadher, who received a grant from the U.S. Embassy...

Yemen’s ongoing war has left millions of people displaced, hungry, and hopeless. The fluid authority of local factions, the lack of news sources, and pervasive illiteracy all work to stifle public discussion within Yemen. But street graffiti, presented in local context, is a way to slip past those obstacles: to promote citizens’ involvement and provide...

Shaikha Hala bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, an artist and the culture and arts director at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, discusses Bahrain's flourishing art scene.

AGSIW was pleased to host a conversation on the arts and culture scene in Bahrain with Shaikha Hala bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, an artist and the culture and arts director at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities.