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The Gallery at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar will host the opening reception of ‘The Depth of Hope’ by acclaimed Egyptian Sudanese artist Fathi Hassan tomorrow at 7pm. |
The reception is preceded by Crossing Boundaries lecture entitled ‘Signs, Traces & Calligraphy’ by Rose Issa, London-based curator, writer and producer, at 6pm at the VCUQatar’s atrium. Both events are open to the public.
Hassan experiments with the written and spoken word in his drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations. He explores the theme of ancient languages erased by colonial domination.
With invented, Kufic-inspired scripts, he plays with the symbols, textures and calligraphy of his Nubian heritage to explore the space between graphic symbolism and literal meaning in vibrant colors and collage.
Hassan was born in Cairo in 1957 to Sudanese and Egyptian parents. Since graduating in 1984, he has lived in Le Marche, Italy, and currently works between Italy and Great Britain.
As part of VCUQatar’s Crossing Boundaries Lecture Series, ‘Signs, Traces and Calligraphy’ focuses on the first international impact of contemporary Arab and Iranian artists in the West.
This was an approach that was not only new in the Western world - because they referred to their own cultural background - but encouraged artists to impose the own original signature and aesthetics in the art world.
Rose Issa is a curator, writer and producer, who has championed visual art and film from the Arab world and Iran for nearly 30 years. She has lived in Iran, Lebanon, France and, for the last 25 years, London, where from her project space in Great Portland Street she showcases upcoming and established artists, as well as producing exhibitions and publications with public and private institutions worldwide.
Through curating numerous exhibitions and film festivals, she introduced Western audiences to many artists who have since become stars on the international scene, including: Chant Avedissian, Ayman Baalbaki, Shadi Ghadirian, Monir Farmanfarmaian, Bahman Ghobadi, Hassan Hajjaj, Farhad Moshiri, Abbas Kiarostami, Rashid Koraichi and Nja Mahdaoui among many more.
‘The Depth of Hope’ runs at the Gallery at VCUQatar until February 27. More information could be had from www.qatar.vcu.edu or by sending an e-mail VCUQatar Exhibitions and Speaker Curator Caitlin Doherty at [email protected].
