In partnership with the London Middle East Institute, Kamel Lazaar Foundation and Ibraaz presented a two-day conference, Regional Vis-à-vis Global Discourses: Contemporary Art from the Middle East.

This conference examined the state of contemporary Middle Eastern art history and its future. It allowed for a discussion on the development of modern and contemporary art in an extended historical and global perspective. One of the objectives was to reflect upon the methodologies of art history and cultural studies and how they could be applied to the study of contemporary art from the Middle East. The conference also investigated how contemporary, so-called "global" theories impact the production of art within the region.

An international body of art theorists and historians, together with regional scholars and professionals in the field, were invited to participate including, amongst others,  Hamid Dabashi, Venetia Porter, Irit Rogoff, Nada Shabout, James W. Allan, Hanan Toukan, Dina Matar, Anthony Downey, Sonja Mejcher-Atassi, Hamid Severi, Anna Contadini, Fereshteh Daftari, Abbas Daneshvari, Dina A. Ramadan, Jessica Morgan, Kristine Khouri, Sarah A. Rogers, and Sarah-Neel Smith.

The conference was convened by Hamid Keshmirshekan, History of Art Department, Oxford University.

View the full programme.

Download Programme (PDF) and Bios and Abstracts (PDF)

5th-6th July 2013, 9am-7pm

Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre

Brunei Gallery, SOAS

London, UK