Sharjah’s Barjeel Art Foundation will showcase work by Arab artists at Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum

Sharjah’s Barjeel Art Foundation, built on more than 1,000 modern and contemporary Arab artworks from the private collection of its founder Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, will launch its first exhibition in North America on Saturday.

The venue is fitting. Home Ground: Contemporary Art from the Barjeel Art Foundation will open at Toronto’s renowned Aga Khan Museum, whose mission is to foster a greater appreciation of the contribution that Muslim civilisations have made to world heritage.

The collaboration

Sheikh Sultan will give a talk at the launch ceremony, highlighting the global importance of modern and contemporary artworks from the Arab world.

As well as regular exhibitions at the foundation’s gallery in Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan and his team have collaborated with several overseas organisations, including the Singapore Art Museum in 2013. The not-for-profit organisation also collaborated with Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum in 2012, the Contemporary Art Platform in Kuwait this year, as well as the UAE’s National Pavilion at the ongoing Venice Biennale.

“Collaborating with international museums is one of the best ways to open up the collection to international audiences,” says Sheikh Sultan. “I believe that art can counter some of the negative stereotypes that have sadly been associated with the region. We must continue to build cultural bridges with the rest of the world, and the Aga Khan Museum and the city of Toronto itself are ideal platforms to do this.”

Original article by Anna Seaman

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Sharjah’s Barjeel Art Foundation will showcase work by Arab artists at Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum