What is it about?
In 1974, the First Biennale of Arab Art was inaugurated in Baghdad, envisioning a radical nomadic exhibitionary model that preceded the European equivalent, Manifesta, by two decades. The ostensible aim was to celebrate regional artistic virtuosity, and provide opportunities for evaluating and disseminating Arab art.
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Why is it important?
By examining disputable claims to the event’s genesis and Ba’thist politics at the time, however, and by situating it within contemporaneous global currents, including oil embargos and Cold War alliances, this article argues that Iraq instrumentalised the biennial towards tightening control locally and asserting its position as the centre of the Arab world. While the regime’s manipulations ultimately compromised the initiative, the collective project signaled an exemplary moment of regional confluence and exchange, thus challenging hegemonic conventions and networks that often excluded Arab artists.
Perspectives
Most importantly, the article argues that the biennial was motivated by global ambitions around which both the regime and Arab artists converged.
Amin Alsaden
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Baghdad’s Arab Biennial, Third Text, November 2018, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/09528822.2018.1538035.
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