Eight contemporary Middle Eastern and North African artists to know in 2023Ahead of our online Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale in May, specialists Suzy Sikorski and Marie-Claire Thijsen reveal why these are the artists to have on your radar right nowDana Awartani, Saudi Arabia, b. 1987 ‘Dana Awartani is a Palestinian-Saudi artist who is part of a movement that fuses traditional Islamic crafts with contemporary practices to explore modern Arabian identity,’ says Suzy Sikorski, a specialist in Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at Christie’s in Dubai. The intricate patterns found in her works are often created using these centuries-old techniques, alongside others such as marquetry and mosaic, employing traditional Middle Eastern materials such as clay, silk and sand. 1969 For more than 30 years, Mohammed Kazem — a leading figure of the ‘Second Generation’ of the UAE’s contemporary artists — has been creating visual representations of sound, using scissors to score pieces of paper, from small sheets to extensive scrolls. 1981 Born in Baghdad, but now living and working in Los Angeles, Hayv Kahraman is one of the Middle East’s leading female artists.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 28, 2023 09:23 UTC