Art Inspired by Poetry

ARTISTS FROM THE KHALID SHOMAN COLLECTION

DECEMBER 2007 – FEBRUARY 2008

The disciplines of poetry and visual art are two forms of expression which maintain deep-rooted and intertwined histories, particularly in the Arab World. The works presented from the Private Collection are by artists who have taken inspiration from poetry or have worked with poets at a point in their artistic career. Among these are Marwan, Mohammad Omar Khalil, Rachid Koraïchi, Mohamed Kacimi, Himat Ali, and Farid Belkahia. Kamal Boullata, Ziad Dalloul, and Mona Saudi, in particular, have been stimulated by the poetry of Adonis, in some cases even weaving the texts of his poems into their art. Most of all, these artists have been drawn towards Adonis’s poetry on cities, both historic and new, including Grenada, Petra, and New York. Amid the works on display by these artists are art books. Art books are complex works that can take many shapes including scrolls, collections of prints, and fold out books which are stored in decorated boxes; they are printed in a limited number of editions, and are generally, in one way or another, linked to writing.