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ABU DHABI – The emirate of Sharjah is slowly establishing itself as the cultural capital of the UAE, highlighting the forgotten talents of the Arab world.
At the Sharjah Art Museum, one of the seven emirates that make up this wealthy Gulf state, the works on display depict the beauty and tragedies of the Arab region.
Among them, a large painting by Palestinian artist Bashir Sinwar showing the mutilated bodies of men and women killed in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon in 1982, and another by Yemeni visual artist Abdullah Al -Amin depicting a happy everyday life in the old city of Sanaa.
In one of the corridors of the cultural edifice dominated by the traditional style, Sultan Al Qasimi speaks proudly about the Barjeel Art Foundation, an initiative he launched in 2010 to showcase and preserve modern Arab art and contemporary, which includes more than a thousand works.
“We are here to render (…) an artistic service to the Arab world,” said the Emirati, descendant of the Sharjah ruling family, which specializes in the arts, adding: “Sharjah is not the richest emirate economically in the Gulf, but it is the richest culturally. “
The UAE has invested heavily in the cultural sector in the context of large-scale projects such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the only foreign branch of the French parent institution, or in the organization of the Dubai International Expo next year.
Despite this, Sharjah has worked to consolidate its position as the country’s cultural capital through book fairs, museums, biennials of contemporary art, photography, theater, poetry and even calligraphy festivals.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chose Sharjah as the capital of Arab culture in 1998 and as the world book capital in 2019 under the slogan of making reading accessible to all.
Sultan Al Qasimi’s passion for Arab art was born after seeing dozens of visitors flock to see a painting by Van Gogh at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
“I told myself that one day I will see such a line in front of (paintings) the best Arab artists,” he said.
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