The Rise of Arab Art – Vol.1

Book launch

Sursock Museum

August 21st, 2025 at 12:00 PM

Sfeir-Semler Gallery is proud to announce the launch of The Rise of Arab Art, edited by Andrée Sfeir-Semler. The talk and book launch will take place on August 21st at 12 noon at the Sursock Museum in Beirut.

Since the 1990s, contemporary art in the Arab world has undergone exponential growth and transformative change. The increasing visibility of artists from the region on international platforms has significantly shifted local dynamics. Museums and art foundations began building collections, biennials were inaugurated, and new infrastructures emerged—including contemporary art galleries, fairs, residencies, and art schools. In parallel, governments in the Gulf states launched ambitious cultural mega-projects.

Edited by Andrée Sfeir-Semler, The Rise of Arab Art is a reader that brings together 46 contributions by artists, curators, art historians, scholars, critics, and cultural practitioners, in a 600-pages volume that offers a comprehensive overview for readers interested in the foundations, structures, and evolution of contemporary art scenes in the region. The publication also presents a chronology offering an account of the development of the contemporary visual arts infrastructures across the Arab world, up to the present, in addition to an index of Arab artists.

Combining firsthand accounts with scholarly essays that historicize these moments, the anthology traces the development of artistic practices and institutions across key cities such as Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Doha, or Dubai, while also offering broad chronicles on the scenes in Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and beyond. This expansive volume explores the intersections of local initiatives and global perspectives, addressing the various forces that shape an art ecosystem: artists, private foundations, biennials, publications, press, art fairs, commercial galleries, curators, and governmental institutions. While the exercise by nature cannot be exhaustive given the wide geographical scope and the timeframe covered, the aim was to gather testimonies and outline key moments to sketch a broad map of initiatives and projects across an extremely diverse region, bound by language, and often by a shared postcolonial experience. What emerged is a clear sense of trans national exchange and solidarity—often shaken by political instability, yet persistently resilient. This spirit has sparked crucial developments and institutions: Darat al Funun, Ashkal Alwan, the Arab Image Foundation, Meeting Points, the Townhouse gallery, the Sharjah Biennial, to name a few, often intiated by leaders and founders moved by a deep sense of purpose and engagement. Andrée Sfeir-Semler says: “Given Sfeir-Semler Gallery’s unique history and position, our politically charged program — not to mention the state of the world today—it felt necessary to create a resource that would benefit many. We wanted to reflect not only on our own journey, but also on the broader trend of contemporary art emerging from the Arab world, charting in the process a collective movement that thrived through a convergence of circumstances: a regional grounds well that redefined contemporary art, infrastructure that slowly took root, and a global interest from Western curators and institutions expanding their perspectives. These intersections are what interested me most—tracing the who, what, where, and when to better understand this evolving narrative”