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ADAI works with artists across the Middle East and North Africa to ensure their work is seen, understood, and contextualized. Representation on ADAI means supporting artists through curated visibility, research, and digital presentation, connecting their work to audiences, exhibitions, and broader cultural conversations.
Artists featured on ADAI are not exclusively signed or commercially represented— instead, ADAI provides a platform to showcase your practice, highlight your perspective, and situate your work within the evolving landscape of MENA art.
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Representation is about visibility, context, and community - helping your art reach the right audiences while respecting your autonomy as an artist."
Often referred to as the era of Al-Ruwad (The Pioneers), this period marks the birth of modern Arab art. Many of these artists were sent on government-sponsored scholarships to study in European capitals like Paris and Rome. Upon returning home, they blended Western academic techniques (such as Impressionism and Realism) with local subjects, landscapes, and the emerging concept of national identity.
This period was heavily defined by regional political turmoil, most notably the 1967 Six-Day War (the Naksa or 'setback'), the Palestinian exodus, and the Lebanese Civil War. Art became a crucial tool for resistance, political commentary, and documenting human suffering. Existential angst and national trauma led to an emotionally charged, often somber, figurative expressionism.
The Hurufiyya (Letterism) movement is arguably the most significant and cohesive modernist movement to emerge from the Arab world. Artists deconstructed Arabic calligraphy, liberating the letters from their linguistic and religious functions to use them as purely abstract, rhythmic, and visual elements. This allowed them to engage with global abstract expressionism while remaining deeply rooted in Islamic and Arab heritage.
Driven by globalization, the diaspora experience, and new technologies, Arab art in this era expanded well beyond traditional painting and sculpture. It became heavily characterized by video, photography, installation, and performance art. Operating on a global stage, these artists tackle complex themes of post-colonialism, migration, memory, borders, and gender identity.
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Maya Art Space is pleased to announce the opening solo exhibition "The occupation of memory" by artist Adnan Charara, curated by Hana Sammak Kurdi.
Adnan Charara’s practice is one of personal realisation. Themes such as identity, ethnicity, diversity, fear, love, and acceptance manifest in his work to elaborate on his lived experience as a citizen of the world. Having lived in different cultures, the feeling of being an outsider has stayed with Charara, however as a tool of observation rather than alienation. Through his artistic practice, Charara looks to forge connections and initiate conversations with the audience and between themselves on themes that represent the human condition.
Navigating such existential themes, Charara uses humour to make his art more approachable, playful, and engaging. As a powerful tool, it translates personal interpretations into relatable conversations, making complex existential questions accessible to audiences from all walks of life.
This exhibition is no exception. The Occupation of Memory is a battle of the colours, mirroring the contradiction and perhaps also the harmony in its themes. Comic-book style pieces that depict violence are indeed comical. The eyes shift between bright colourful motifs overlaying fantastical black-and-white worlds, confusing our emotional receptors and hence, our perception.
This is certainly not by mistake. Charara ponders on the fickleness of our memories and questions their integrity and our attachment to them. To Charara our memories are easily influenced by our surroundings and can be susceptible to manipulation, therefore ‘occupation’ here refers to the momentary recollection that serves our own perspective.
