Modernism in East Asia
The term ‘modernism’ is commonly used to describe some of the literary and cultural production of the early twentieth century in China, Japan, and Korea,…
The term ‘modernism’ is commonly used to describe some of the literary and cultural production of the early twentieth century in China, Japan, and Korea,…
Exploring modernity and its intellectual trends in the Middle East is a very fitting endeavour, as ‘Middle East’ itself is a ‘modern’ term which has…
The perception of the Arabic letter in art has gone through many changes from the Islamic civilization to the modern age. Following the political and…
Jamal al-Din Al-Afghani (1838–1897) is considered the “father of Islamic Modernism.” As a philosopher, writer, orator, and journalist, Al-Afghani affected Islamic thought from the Indian…
Muhammad ‘Abduh along with Jamal al-Din Al-Afghani (1838–1897) are widely considered as the co-founders of Muslim modernism, mainly in, though not confined to, Sunni Islam.…
The Bandung School refers to one of the streams of modern art in post-revolutionary Indonesia. It is associated primarily with the art school in what…
Jaafar Latiff, born in Singapore, established his reputation as an abstract artist in the 1960s. He was self-taught; however, his talent saw him easily find…
Omar el-Nagdi began his art education at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1953. He received a…
The Royal Society of Fine Arts, a private, non-profit, non-governmental organization with the goal of promoting the visual arts in Jordan and the region, established…
Vera Tamari was born in 1945 in Jerusalem. Her parents, originally from the coastal city of Jaffa, exposed their children to visual art, music, and…
Born in Alexandria in 1863, Qasim Amin was a significant figure in the intellectual and political circles of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Egypt. He…
Jurjī Zaydān was a Lebanese novelist, journalist, and scholar of the Nahḍa (‘awakening’), an intellectual current of the long nineteenth century for the renewal of…
Abdollah Nazemi founded the Pars National Ballet, a semiprivate dance company, in 1966. It was the first known instance of a Western-style modern dance group…
Prince Twins Seven Seven was a Yoruba artist of the Oshogbo School. He is one of the most significant artists of modern art in Africa.…
Dr Khalid al-Jader was born in Baghdad, Iraq. He had a distinguished career as an Iraqi artist, scholar, and administrator throughout the mid-20th century. He…
Navakanta Barua was one of the best known Assamese modernist writers of the twentieth century who worked through multiple genres. A graduate from the Visva…
Ahmad Sadali was an iconic figure of the Bandung School and remains a key influence as a pioneer in modern abstract painting in Indonesia. Sadali,…
Iranian-Armenians Madame Cornelli, Madame Yelena Avakian, and Sarkis Djanbazian, all of whom had learned ballet in Russia or Europe, came to Iran where they opened…
Syed Ahmad Jamal was a painter who promoted Abstract Expressionism as an artistic approach in Malaysia. As an art student, he was already drawn to…
Fahrelnissa Zeid was a prominent and influential figure in Turkish modern art. An accomplished early modernist Turkish painter, she was as influential for modern Jordanian…
Angkatan Pelukis Se-Malaysia [APS—All Malaysian Painters’ Front] is recognized as one of the first Malay art collectives in Malaysia. It functions as both a social…
Al Said was a prolific and influential artist. He was a founding member of the Baghdad Group for Modern Art (Jama’at Baghdad lil-fann al-hadith) in…
Mamadou Pape Samb, better known as Papisto Boy, was a Senegalese street artist celebrated locally and internationally. He moved to Dakar as an orphan of…
Ahmed Ali is one of the pioneers of modernism in the Indian subcontinent. Publishing his works both in Urdu and in English, and with both…
The painter Mohamed Naghi is remembered today alongside Mahmoud Mukhtar (1891–1934) and Mahmoud Said (1897–1964) as one of the core members of the so-called first…