Arab Express – The Latest Art from the Arab World
Curators: Nanjo Fumio and Kondo Kenichi from the Mori Art Museum
Contributors: Kondo Kenichi, Salwa Mikdadi, Nada Shabout
Publisher: Heibonsha Ltd.
Mori Art Museum (森美術館)
Tokyo, Japan, 2012 (exhibition catalogue, published June 20, 2012)
ISBN: 9784582206708
The catalogue was published alongside the exhibition "Arab Express: The Latest Art from the Arab World" at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, running from June to October 2012, and was the first exhibition of its kind held in Japan, presenting works by 34 artists from the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding Arab countries. It offers an in-depth overview of contemporary art from the Middle East, exploring how the region's history, diverse cultures, and religious traditions have shaped an aesthetic that often favors abstraction and geometric pattern over figurative representation. The show was curated by the museum's Nanjo Fumio and Kondo Kenichi, with additional essays from Arab art historians Nada Shabout and Salwa Mikdadi.