Looking at the world around you

de Abdellah Karroum

The catalogue of the exhibition 'Looking at the World Around You: Contemporary Works from Qatar Museums' features 160 selected works from the collections of Qatar Museums. It is a celebration of modern and contemporary art that attempts to illustrate the Arab world's perspective on the international art scene. Abdellah Karroum, director of Mathaf and curator of the exhibition in Madrid, considers 'Looking at the World Around You' an invitation to connect with multiple layers of history, mythology and representation, and to reflect on the role of art and the artist through a reading and display of works from Qatar Museums extending from Francisco de Goya's ca. 1825 tiny ivory painting, which inspired his exhibition's curatorial concept, to Wael Shawky's expansive cinematic re-imaginings of the past, completed in 2015. Exhibition: Santander Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain (09.02.-19.06.2016).