“Présences Arabes”. Mapping out Paris as an Arab capital 1908-1988

The exhibition entitled Arab Presences. Modern Art and Decolonization. Paris 1908-1988 has as its objective historical rehabilitation but also reconciliation vis-à-vis France’s (post)colonial art history, i.e., its very own history. It explores the role of Paris in the development of Modern Arab art, by mapping the various educational venues, exhibition spaces, meetings places and political events; taking Independence and decolonial movements, throughout West Asia and North Africa, as platforms and patterns for modern art history.

Through over 130 artists and more than 200 works, the public can explore a Paris that is both colonial and anticolonial, a supportive haven, and a strategic point of contact, inclusive but also source of exclusion.

This seminar is the second event of the research seminar series “Colonial Objects and the Museum”. The lecture series explores the circulation of colonial objects and their relationship with the museum in a diachronic perspective. Focusing on objects ranging from looted artifacts to works of art produced in colonial contexts, the series addresses issues of artistic exchange, diplomatic controversy, restitution, archival practice, and display. Involving scholars and curators, the series aims to promote a transnational discussion on colonialisms and decolonial theories and practices.

Morad Montazami is an art historian, a publisher and a curator. After serving at Tate Modern (London) between 2014-2019 as curator « Middle East and North Africa », he developed the publishing and curatorial platform Zamân Books & Curating to explore Arab, African and Asian modernism. He published numerous essays and curated among other projects Bagdad Mon Amour, Institut des cultures d’Islam, Paris, 2018; Casablanca Art School, Tate St-Ives/Sharjah Art Foundation/Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2023-2024.

Please follow the event online through our VIMEO CHANNEL through this link: Research Seminar with Morad Montazami (vimeo.com)

Scientific Organization: Giulia Beatrice (Research Unit: Decolonizing Italian Visual and Material Culture)