New Abu Dhabi art centre aims to reshape the "historical narrative" around Arab art 

The Arab Center for the Study of Art, opened on the campus of New York University in Abu Dhabi, hopes to reshape the narrative of the region's art history and offer new cutting-edge research opportunities for experts in the field. 

The aim of this space is to use a multidisciplinary approach to better contextualise Arab visual arts in West Asia and North Africa. The centre will organise events, conduct research on the history of Arab art and organise an artist-in-residence programme offering opportunities for innovative work in the field. 

Arab and contemporary art history expert Salwa Mikdadi has been appointed director of the centre, and will be accompanied by professors May Al Dabbagh and Shamoon Zamir. Mikdadi says the institution is a way for the region to bring a new perspective to the rich history of Arab art. 

"We need to set our own standards, our own historical narrative about this region, from this region," the Arab art expert told The National. "We want to revise the canon of art history of the area." 

The centre is organised into three segments focusing on different areas. On the one hand, Mawrid, directed by Mikdadi, is dedicated to the development of new frameworks for the study of the visual arts in West Asia and North Africa. Haraka is the name of the experimental laboratory for Arab Art and Social Thought, directed by Al-Dabbagh, which will use social-scientific methodologies to explore the production and movements of culture and knowledge in the region. Finally, Akkasah is an archive of some 33,000 images through which Zamir will conduct research on the history of photography in the region and contemporary practices in the field.