Sajjil: A Century of Modern Arts

Past Exhibition

Our inaugural exhibition was a remarkable, comprehensive cross-section of art from the Arab world produced over the last hundred years.

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Sajjil means ‘Act of Recording’ and it brought together over 200 artworks from Mathaf’s extensive collection. The Sajjil exhibition highlighted turning-points in artistic thought as it evolved in the region. The exhibition created a space for many different stories and experiences and helped set Arab modern art in its historical place within a larger art-history tradition. It also emphasized the several common moments and concerns that made it possible to talk about a shared identity in the region.

Sajjil was divided into ten themed categories: nature; the city; individualism; form and abstraction; society; family; history and myth; struggle; huroufiyah (’abstract letterform art’) and Doha.

Curated by Dr. Nada Shabout, Wassan al-Khudhairi and Deena Chalabi