Interview With Omar Kholeif, Curator Of The 2015 Armory Show’s “Focus: MENAM”
By Catherine Milner
For its 2015 edition, the Armory Show, New York’s oldest and largest art fair, is featuring the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean (MENAM) in its Focus section in recognition of the artistic emergence that is sweeping the respective regions. Noah Horowitz, the fair’s director since 2013, has stated that art from the Middle East has become “too important to ignore.” The Armory, in conjunction with the London-based nonprofit art organization Edge of Arabia and the Saudi-based Art Jameel foundation, seeks to raise the profile of art from the MENAM region.
The entire fair will feature a total of 199 exhibitors, and in the Focus section, there will be 15 galleries showcasing art from the MENAM region. This year, the Focus section is being overseen by Egyptian-born Omar Kholeif, who is curator of Whitechapel Gallery in London. Most conspicuous in this section will be a huge, golden bust of Saddam Hussein, created by New York-based Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal. “The sculpture of Saddam shows the absurdity of despotic regimes in the larger context,” says Asmaa al-Shabibi, director of Dubai-based gallery Lawrie Shabibi, which is selling the work. In the near future, Bilal plans to launch the Saddam sculpture into the stratosphere, so that it can orbit the earth for eternity and thereby realize a lifelong dream once held by the late dictator. Also on show will be a new work by Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum–an ellipse of black marbles on the floor–and new sculptures by Susan Hefuna, the grand dame of Egyptian contemporary art. There will also be a prominent featuring of painters from the MENAM region, including Saloua Raouda Choucair and Shafic Abboud from Lebanon, Iraqi-born London-based Dia al-Azzawi and Marwan Kassab-Bachi from Syria.
