Curator’s Comment

Fall in Washington brings a number of art fairs, formal and informal. For me, it is a good way to scout potential exhibitors for the Gallery. There are many talented Arab American artists working in the DC area and not enough venues.

With the Washington heat, it is hard to believe we are looking at Fall. But September brings us the beginning of an exciting new season of exhibitions at the Gallery. While Bassima Mustafa’s deep images of olive groves continue to cool us off in through September, I will be in Texas visiting the contemporary art galleries with a view to an exhibition here in the future.

The weather in Washington has already been hot for weeks, and the forecast indicates that it will continue to be so throughout the summer. Here at the Gallery, we think things have been “hot” as well. Our exhibition Breaching the Wall had a record opening crowd, and continues to generate heat in the press.

Breaching the Wall, an extraordinary exhibition by 11 artists from across the United States and Canada, will open in the Gallery on May 20.

This month the Gallery is hosting the first exhibition related to a grant made by The Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development.  Our grant partially funded a project by an NGO called Zakira (“Memory “in Arabic).