On 16 November 2007 at the State Hermitage Museum (Halls 28-32 by the Saltykov Entrance) an exhibition was opened which has been organized by the State Hermitage Museum in collaboration with the Triumph Gallery in Moscow, supported by Alisher Usmanov’s charitable organization, Art and Sport.
THE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
The exhibition presents to the public for the first time forty works by six celebrated artists and calligraphers from the Middle East: Etel Adnan (b. 1925, Beirut, Lebanon), Maliheh Afnan (b. 1935, Haifa, Palestine), Rachid Koraichi (b. 1947, Ain el Beida, Algeria), Nja (Naja) Mahdawi (b. 1937, Tunis, Tunisia), Ali Omar Ermes (b. 1945, Tripoli, Lebanon), Mohammed Ehsai (b. 1939, Qazvin, Iran). They have each taken a different creative path, received different educations, live and work in different countries, and use different artistic techniques. Their work is displayed in the largest museums around the world – Pompidou Centre in Paris, the British Museum in London, the Kuwait National Museum and others.
The curators of the exhibition are Rose Issa, an expert in the field of contemporary Middle Eastern art, and Daria Vasilyeva, a junior scientific researcher at the Oriental Department of the State Hermitage Museum.
The State Hermitage Museum Publishing House has prepared an illustrated booklet for the exhibition with text written by one of the curators, Daria Vasilyeva.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Middle East Brand Director Renaud Pretet and members of the Touchline board were recently received by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Dubai Expo 2020 to present the special painting ‘Tawasul Al-Himam’ (The Continuum of Resolve) by Ali Omar Ermes. The great work of art was commissioned by Jeager-LeCoultre and Touchline FZ-LLC in celebration of Dubai’s expo theme.
East-West: Objects Between Cultures
Free entry
Tate Britain: Exhibition
1 September 2006 – 18 February 2007
Ali Omar Ermes, Shadda 1980
Watercolour and gold on paper
635 x 615 mm
Lent by the British Museum
The verse inscription relates to social equality. Like the Tachiste works displayed in this room, ‘Shadda‘ depicts a gesture imbued with meaning. Although some of these Tachiste works are reminiscent of calligraphy, Arabic script is given spiritual significance in Ermes’ work, as a written expression of Qur’anic revelation.
What is the relationship between image and word in this example of calligraphy?