Abu Dhabi Art Panel

Friday 21 | 11 | 2025
4:00–4:45 PM
Auditorium, Manarat Al Saadiyat

Thousand and One Nights Revisited: Orientalism and Contemporary Expression

Presented by Bassam Freiha Art Foundation (BFAF)

Moderator:  Michaela Watrelot, BFAF Curator & Director of Exhibitions
Speakers: Sarah Rambourg, Nja Mahdaoui Foundation Executive Director | Mathias Ary Jan, Ary Jan Art Gallery Owner

The panel considers how the enduring legacy of One Thousand and One Nights continues to shape and challenge perceptions of the Orient in art. Taking Nja Mahdaoui’s contemporary calligraphic illustrations as a point of departure, the discussion explores how Arab artists are reclaiming visual and literary narratives historically filtered through a Western gaze. In dialogue with 19th-century Orientalist painting, on view at BFAF, Mahdaoui’s works assert a counterpoint: one grounded in cultural authorship, abstraction, and Arab visual modernity. The conversation will reflect on whether Orientalism remains relevant today, how its aesthetics continue to resonate, and where they are being challenged, reimagined, or reclaimed.