Taking Shape: Exhibit Opening Conversation

The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern Universityis an engine that drives questioning, experimentation, and collaboration across fields of study, with visual arts at the center. Located on Northwestern’s lakefront campus in Evanston, The Block engages audiences from across the Chicago region with exhibitions, films, and programs that spark critical thinking and creativity.A collection of more than 6,000 works fuels teaching, learning, and research across the university, supporting a rotating exhibition program grounded in Northwestern’s curriculum. Welcoming over 40,000 visitors each year, The Block works in collaboration with artists, scholars, students, and community partners to present art and ideas that inspire reflection and dialogue.F﻿ree parking infoThe Block is free and open to all.

The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University

an evening conversation to celebrate the opening of exhibit "Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s"

Block Museum of Art

<a href="https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/exhibitions/2022/taking-shape-abstraction-from-the-arab-world,-1950s-1980s.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s </a>explores mid-20th-century abstract art from North Africa, West Asia, and the Arab diaspora—a vast geographic expanse that encompasses diverse cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. Comprising nearly 90 works by artists from countries including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the exhibition is drawn from the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation based in Sharjah, UAE. At its heart, Taking Shape raises fundamental questions: How do we study abstraction across different contexts, and what modes of analysis do we use? Looking critically at narratives of mid-20th-century abstraction, the exhibition rethinks art-historical canons and expands conversations around global modernisms.This program will feature recorded remarks from Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, and Suheyla Takesh, curator of Taking Shape, and a conversation among Northwestern scholars exploring the exhibition’s core questions and resonances in our context, including Rebecca C. Johnson (Northwestern Director of the Middle East and North African Studies Program, Associate Professor of English), Caroline Kent (Visual Artist, Northwestern Assistant Professor of Art, Theory and Practice), Michael Rakowitz (Visual Artist, Northwestern Alice Welsh Skilling Professor of Art, Theory, and Practice) and Sarah Dwider (Block Museum 2021–22 Graduate Fellow and Northwestern PhD Student, Department of Art History). Conversation moderated by Hannah Feldman (Northwestern Associate Professor of Art History).Programs are open to all, on a first-come first-served basis. RSVPs not required, but appreciated. The Block Museum of Art acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

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Taking Shape: Exhibit Opening Conversation

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Taking Shape: Exhibit Opening Conversation

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