“What scholars define as the Arab world—mainly encapsulating the Middle East as well as North Africa—is as much a geographical zone as it is an ethnolinguistic designation which is directly linked to the development of Pan-Arabism. The Arab world is therefore not only a territory but a constructed group of countries which generally share similar cultural values, religious beliefs, and artistic traditions. It is imperative to note that thismgroup is diverse across the board and should not be reduced to a single umbrella. In the 19th century, the vast majority of Arab countries were under colonial rule, with Eurocentric canons imposed upon Arabic cultural production. Traditional Islamic art was consequently relegated to the category of craft by western art historians of the time. Assuming that the geometric characteristics of traditional Islamic art and its lack of fidelity to the natural world made it incapable of reflective subjectivity, hence inferior to western art. Abstraction in the Arab world was thus later conceptualized through this Orientalist legacy, and a denial of the agency of Arab artists.” (p. 51-52)

Full Text1. Iftikhar Dadi, Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s. New York: Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 2020: 53.