A digital art museum is spotlighting the influence of female power in the evolution of Arab art

An Art Market report highlights that the median price for female artists’ work in the Middle East and Africa is 11 per cent less than that of male artists. Furthermore, the work of female artists’ accounts for only 36 per cent share of major permanent collections in the region. According to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, “women continue to remain dramatically under-represented and undervalued in museums, galleries, and auction houses”.

The Khaleeji Art Museum, the Arab Gulf region’s first dedicated online museum to promote the work of GCC artists, hopes to lead by example, disrupting this gender disparity in the art world. Founded in 2020, the digital art museum hosts exhibitions and galleries that display the works of emerging and established Arab artists. Some of their previous exhibitions have been: Ramadan in Quarantine, Khaleejis in the time of Corona, and a digital gallery that was projected on the 36-storey building of the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City (DFC).

Founded by Emirati sisters, Manar and Sharifah Al Hinai, the museum is also the first in the region to be formed, developed and curated by an all-women team. “Worldwide, female artists have voiced a gender disparity — barriers to entry that prevent their work from being displayed in renowned museums or acquisitions at auctions,” explains Manar Al Hinai. “So we thought, why not change that and present an example from the region?”

The duo ensures that they have an equal representation of artists in their exhibitions and galleries. Delving on why this may be important, Manar Al Hinai asks, “How are you going to tell an inclusive story of a country, region, an event or a time in history if women are excluded from it?”

In a solo exhibition, the museum recently displayed the works of Saudi artist Zakia Al Dubaikhi, including acrylic and watercolour paintings that depict motherhood, ceremonial events, and cultural differences in the Arab Gulf region. Available for public viewing outside Saudi Arabia for the first time, the exhibition included paintings of Saudi women preparing lunch, Bahraini girls playing by the sea, and a scene from the marketplace.

“My mother was very active in the Saudi art scene during the 1980s and at that time, art was not celebrated as it is today,” says Basma Al Zamil, Al Dubaikhi’s daughter. “Throughout her career, she was very passionate about art, and came back to it after she retired from her job as a teacher.”

In her later years, Al Dubaikhi’s work was displayed in galleries of major Saudi cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah, and her hometown of Dammam. “She touched on socio-cultural topics and was very vocal about familial and women’s issues in the country,” says Al Zamil. “She was an ambassador for women’s rights in her own way. She was also very keen to record and document Saudi history — from a woman’s perspective — through her art.”

The family continues to preserve and present Al Dubaikhi’s art around the region. Speaking of the role female artists play in the regional art scene, Al Zamil notices that women are comparatively more active now and there seems to be more of an openness and willingness to address socio-cultural topics.

Omani graphic media artist and photographer Marwa Al Kalbani also explores topics related to the Arab society. In her latest work for the Khaleeji Art Museum, Moving Ideals: Challenging Niqabi Stereotypes in Arab Society, Al Kalbani presents a series of photographs that aim to break the stereotypical image of niqabis (women who wear the black-veil face cover) in the Arab world.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com