oa Mathaf Encyclopedia Of Modern Art And The Arab World (memaaw)

In collaboration with Qatar Museums and Qatar Foundation, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern art introduces its long-term project, Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World (MEMAAW) to provide a major resource on Arab artists and their histories. Initiated by H.E. Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed bin Ali Al Thani, as part of the development of Mathaf and knowledge around its collection, the research team at Mathaf, UCLQ and VCUQ commissions scholars and independent researchers to write encyclopedia entries/biographies, under the direction of Professor Nada Shabout, consulting Director of Research at Mathaf. The Encyclopedia has been in production since late 2013 has been online as a Beta Version since July 2014: www.encyclopedia.mathaf.org. The Encyclopedia launched with an initial 30 biographies, but will hopefully evolve in phases to include all artists from Mathaf's collection and beyond. The bilingual Encyclopedia is a free online scholarly comprehensive resource that provides basic facts and in depth information on modern art of the Arab world. The Encyclopedia aims to standardize the data on Arab artists and to encourage multiple perspectives on modernism in the Arab world while providing a comprehensive view on its development. Artists from the Gulf, in particular Qatar, remain largely outside of the academic realm. It is hoped that the project will align Qatari artists with other artists from the Arab world and encourage a better understanding of their development and contributions. Given today's interest in Arab art, the users of the MEMAAW will be art historians, researchers, scholars, university students, art professionals and translators seeking information on Arab modern artists, their styles, techniques, artwork, contributions, concepts, terminologies found in the Arabic art glossary, as well as areas of specialization related to modern art in the Arab world and modernism in general. All peer-reviewed and translated entries are original and provide comprehensive documentation on Modern artists of the Arab world by academics and scholars in the field. Entries also include artists' signatures for reference and authentication as well as artists' photos, artwork images, and audio-visual material. The Encyclopedia is a work in progress and will continue to develop to include all artists from Mathaf's permanent collection, and in subsequent phases will include Arab artists beyond the collection, as well as historically contextualizing and thematic essays on their work. The Encyclopedia also provides a resource for Arab art glossary and is a platform that supports knowledge exchange and network between researchers and scholars around the world. The website also provided rights and reproduction services to access images of artworks. It is anticipated that scholars and educators will be encouraged to use artworks in research, presentation and publication, thus promoting the Qatar Museums collection and code of ethics.