The Sharjah Art Museum’s collection unites the richness and diversity of contemporary art produced in the Arab World during the past fifty years. The exhibition is open to visitors until the 31st of December, 2022.
The artworks of internationally famous artists and a number of artists who remain to be discovered are displayed in the museum. This collection presents works of various styles, techniques, subjects from Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, the Maghreb, the Arab Gulf, Sudan and Yemen. With the help of this collection, the Sharjah Art Museum tries to broaden the knowledge about the significant contribution of contemporary Arab artists to the global art world.
Contemporary art refers to works from the post-war to the present. Contemporary art combines the whole spectrum of directions, trends and genres that artists have addressed from the second half of the 20th century to the present day. In the context of globalisation and the development of technology, artists create incredibly diverse works. Contemporary art is very individual and diverse. Genres and cultural traditions interpenetrate each other, and artists continue to look for new ways of expressing themselves and current topics.
The Sharjah Art Museum was founded in 1995. The museum moved to a new building in 1997 and today can have 111 thousand square meters of exhibition space on two floors, as well as a rooftop terrace. In total, the museum has 68 exhibition halls. Today, the interior of the museum can be considered an object of art in itself. The main purpose of the exhibition space is to showcase permanent exhibitions, although it also hosts temporary exhibitions by local and international artists. Today this museum is one of the largest art galleries in the Middle East.
The basis of the museum’s permanent exhibition is eight collections from the personal collection of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi. Most of the items in the collection date back to the 18th century and are paintings of the Arab East, painted by European Orientalists.
You may be also interested in visiting Miraj Islamic Art Centre.
