Beginning July 16, the New Museum will present “Here and Elsewhere,” the first museum-wide exhibition in New York City to feature contemporary art from and about the Arab world. The exhibition brings together forty-five artists from over twelve countries, many of whom live and work internationally. In keeping with the New Museum’s dedication to showcasing the most engaging new art from around the globe, “Here and Elsewhere” is the most recent in a series of exhibitions that have introduced urgent questions and new aesthetics to American audiences.

“This exhibition continues the New Museum’s commitment to looking at art from beyond the confines familiar to the New York art world,” said Massimiliano Gioni, Associate Director and Director of Exhibitions. “‘Here and Elsewhere’ brings new works and new voices to our audiences, presenting many artists who are showing in New York for the first time.”

The exhibition borrows its title from a 1976 film-essay by French directors Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin, and Anne-Marie Miéville. Their film, Ici et ailleurs [Here and Elsewhere], was initially conceived as a pro-Palestinian documentary, but evolved into a complex reflection on the ethics of representation and the status of images as instruments of political consciousness.

Taking inspiration from Godard, Gorin, and Miéville’s film—which has had a strong impact on an entire generation of artists in various Arab countries—“Here and Elsewhere” pays particular attention to the position and role of the artist in the face of historical events. Through different methodologies, an unconventional form of lyrical documentary and personal reportage emerges in works in which the artist is vested with the responsibility of revising dominant historical narratives. Other artists in the exhibition undertake experimental approaches to archival material, rewriting personal and collective traumas, and weaving fragments both real and imagined into their work. For others, traditional mediums like painting, drawing, and sculpture record subtle and intimate shifts in awareness, using images as tools for self-discovery, chronicles of current events, or registers of personal histories.

Marwa Arsanios, Have You Ever Killed a Bear? Or Becoming Jamila, 2014 (still). Video, color, sound; 28 min. Courtesy the artist Combining pivotal and under-recognized figures with younger and midcareer artists, “Here and Elsewhere” works against the notion of the Arabic-speaking world as a homogenous or cohesive entity. Through the original and individualized practices of a multigenerational constellation of artists, the exhibition highlights works that often have conceptual or aesthetic references to the Arab world, yet extend well beyond. Emerging from the works of a particularly strong and diverse group of artists are less the contours of an “imagined geography”—to use the words of Edward Said—than new critical attitudes toward art and images that encourage us to look “elsewhere” in order to understand our “here.”

A reflection on what is at stake in the act of representation characterizes many of the works in the exhibition, as many artists reconsider the task of witnessing and chronicling social and political changes. In addition, a number of pieces on view initiate a reflection on images as sites of conflict or spaces of intimacy, while others develop a critique of media representation and propaganda.

Following the critical discussions that have animated contemporary art in recent years, the exhibition does not propose a fixed definition of Arab art or a distinctive regional style. Just as the show’s title calls attention to multiple places and perspectives, “Here and Elsewhere” highlights specific cities and art scenes while emphasizing the importance of dialogues that extend internationally. Further, the exhibition illuminates similar insights and affinities as well as dramatic differences, revealing multiple social and aesthetic landscapes rather than a fictional sense of unity.

“Here and Elsewhere” will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue coedited with Negar Azimi and Kaelen Wilson-Goldie of Bidoun magazine, featuring roundtable discussions with artists as well as critical essays by scholars and critics.

“Here and Elsewhere” is organized by the New Museum’s curatorial department, led by Massimiliano Gioni, Associate Director and Director of Exhibitions, with Natalie Bell, Curatorial Associate, Gary Carrion-Murayari, Kraus Family Curator, Helga Christoffersen, Assistant Curator, and Margot Norton, Assistant Curator.

“Here and Elsewhere” participating artists

Abounaddara (f. 2011 Damascus, Syria)
Etel Adnan (b. 1925 Beirut, Lebanon; lives in Paris and Sausalito, CA)
Rheims Alkadhi (b. 1973 Buffalo, NY; lives in Beirut, Lebanon)
Basma Alsharif (b. 1983 Kuwait; lives internationally)
Ziad Antar (b. 1978 Saïda, Lebanon; lives in Paris and Saïda)
Marwa Arsanios (b. 1978 Washington, DC; lives in Beirut, Lebanon)
Kader Attia (b. 1970 Dugny, France; lives in Berlin)
Yto Barrada (b. 1971 Paris, France; lives in New York and Tangier, Morocco)
Anna Boghiguian (b. 1946 Cairo, Egypt; lives internationally)
Fouad Elkoury (b. 1952 Paris, France; lives in Paris)
Simone Fattal (b. 1942 Damascus, Syria; lives in Paris and Sausalito, CA)
Mekhitar Garabedian (b. 1977 Aleppo, Syria; lives in Ghent, Belgium)
GCC (f. 2013 Dubai, UAE; live in New York, London, Kuwait City, Beirut, and Dubai)
Fakhri El Ghezal (1981 Akouda, Tunisia; lives in Akouda and Tunis, Tunisia)
Tanya Habjouqa (b. 1975 Amman, Jordan; lives in East Jerusalem)
Rokni Haerizadeh (b. 1978 Tehran, Iran; lives in Dubai, UAE)
Rana Hamadeh (b. 1983 Beirut, Lebanon; lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Shuruq Harb (b. 1980 Ramallah, Palestine; lives in Ramallah)
Susan Hefuna (b. 1962 Cairo, Egypt; lives in Cairo, Düsseldorf, and New York)
Wafa Hourani (b. 1979 Hebron, Palestine; lives in Ramallah, Palestine)
Ali Jabri (b. 1942 Jerusalem, Palestine; d. 2002 Amman, Jordan)
Khaled Jarrar (b. 1976 Jenin, Palestine; lives in Ramallah, Palestine)
Lamia Joreige (b. 1972 Beirut, Lebanon; lives in Beirut)
Hiwa K (b. 1975 Sulaymaniya, Iraq; lives in Berlin)
Amal Kenawy (b. 1974 Cairo, Egypt; d. 2012 Cairo)
Mazen Kerbaj (b. 1975 Beirut, Lebanon; lives in Beirut)
Bouchra Khalili (b. 1975 Casablanca, Morocco; lives in Berlin)
Maha Maamoun (b. 1972 California; lives in Cairo, Egypt)
Hashem El Madani (b. 1930 Saïda, Lebanon; lives in Saïda)
Marwan (b. 1934 Damascus, Syria; lives in Berlin)
Ahmed Mater (b. 1979 Tabouk, Saudi Arabia; lives in Abha, Saudi Arabia)
Abdul Hay Mosallam (b. 1933 Al-Dawayima, Palestine; lives in Amman, Jordan)
Selma and Sofiane Ouissi (b. 1975 and 1972 Tunis, Tunisia; live in Paris and Tunis)
Jamal Penjweny (b. 1981 Penjwen, Iraq; lives in Baghdad, Iraq)
Mohamed Larbi Rahali (b. 1956 Tétouan, Morocco; lives in Tétouan)
Marwan Rechmaoui (b. 1964 Beirut, Lebanon; lives in Beirut)
Abdullah Al Saadi (b. 1967 Khor Fakkan, UAE; lives in Khor Fakkan)
Hrair Sarkissian (b. 1973 Damascus, Syria; lives in London)
Hassan Sharif (b. 1951 Dubai, UAE; lives in Dubai)
Wael Shawky (b. 1971 Alexandria, Egypt; lives in Alexandria)
Mounira Al Solh (b. 1978 Beirut, Lebanon; lives in Beirut, Lebanon, and Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Suha Traboulsi (b. 1923 Birzeit, Palestine; lives in Chbanieh, Lebanon)
Van Leo (b. 1921 Jehane, Turkey; d. 2002 Cairo, Egypt)
Ala Younis (b. 1974 Kuwait City, Kuwait; lives in Amman, Jordan) – a curatorial project of archival materials and artworks by Adel Abidin, Mustapha Akrim, Neïl Beloufa, Mohssin Harraki, Mona Hatoum, and Amina Menia