Contemporary artists and experts reflect on the past and present of Levantine art as well as the Levantine identity and how it informs their practice. This panel also addresses the shared artistic heritage of the Levant region and the cities that came to symbolize this cultural integration (Mari, Babylon, Palmyra, Petra, Baalbek, Damascus, Baghdad, Aleppo, Tripoli, Jerusalem). The panel also addresses the Levantine identity as it exists today in modern visual art: the ambiguous relationship between text and image, tradition and modernity, East and West.
Moderator:
Michael Jeha, Managing Director and Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Middle East
Panelists:
Ghada Amer, Artist, represented by Cheim and Read
Saleh Barakat, Beirut gallerist and expert in Levantine art
Sara Raza, Guggenheim UBS MAP Curator, Middle East and North Africa