Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art will host a major solo exhibition by acclaimed Egyptian artist Wael Shawky. To open tomorrow, Wael Shawky: Crusades and Other Stories is curated by Mathaf Director Abdellah Karroum and will occupy the atrium and ground floor galleries at Mathaf. The expo, which runs until August 16, presents large-scale installations of two film trilogies – Cabaret Crusades (2010-2015) and Al Araba Al Madfuna (2012-2015). The three films that make up Cabaret Crusades were produced over a period of four years, the most recent being commissioned by Qatar Museums in 2014 as part of its focus on art, creativity and heritage. The script and structure of the film series Cabaret Crusades draw on sources of writing from the period as presented in Amin Maalouf’s The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (1983), referencing the historical fight for power that is still present today.
The exhibition will also premiere a new film commissioned by Mathaf for the exhibition, completing the three-part series, Al Araba Al Madfuna (2012-2015), a re-telling of the stories of Egyptian novelist Mohamed Mustagab.
Also included is a selection of marionettes (puppets) from the Cabaret Crusades and drawings from both video trilogies. The architecture and scenography produced for Mathaf creates an original atmosphere that combine the artist’s references of history, literature and cinema, through which other stories are imagined.
“Wael Shawky touches on subjects of history and political and social change, while re-thinking models of artistic practice to invent new visual languages. His films, installations, and performances explore histories of culture and literature in the contemporary moment by recreating written and oral testaments of societal, economic, and political change,” said Karroum.
A fully illustrated Arabic-English exhibition catalogue will be published by Mathaf containing an interview with Shawky conducted by Karroum and essays, providing insight into the artistic process of the artist.
The Peninsula
