SAJJIL: A CENTURY OF MODERN ART

30 December 2010 - 1 October 2011

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

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