A pioneering work of Moroccan women’s cinema, A Door to the Sky (Bab Al-Sama Maftuh, 1988) by Farida Benlyazid is a powerful feminist tale of Islamic spiritual awakening and the interplay of cultural heritage and modern identity. The Block Museum of Art screened the film in October 2022, in conjunction with its presentation of the […]
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The exhibitionTaking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s on view at The Block in Fall 2022 explores mid-20th-century abstract art from North Africa, West Asia, and the Arab diaspora—a vast geographic expanse that encompasses diverse cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. Comprising nearly 90 works by artists from countries including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, […]
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The Block’s Fall 2022 exhibition, Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s explores the wide range of nonfigurative art practices that flourished in the Arab world over the course of four decades. Looking critically at narratives of mid-20th-century abstraction, the exhibition rethinks art-historical canons and expands conversations around global modernisms. The exhibition keynote conversation on […]
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What does climate change actually look and feel like? From forest fires in the American West and desertification in northern China to climate migration in coastal Louisiana and Latin America, the ongoing climate emergency is a global problem that demands radically new, collaborative modes of scholarship and creativity. For the past few years Michael Metzger, the […]
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In the years leading up to the 2019 exhibition Caravans of Gold, Block Museum staff formed relationships with colleagues based at partner institutions in Mali, Morocco, and Nigeria. Chief among our collaborators was Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), the federal government agency which manages the collection, documentation, conservation, and presentation of Nigerian […]
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Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s on view at The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University September 22 – December 4, 2022 From September 22 – December 4, 2022 the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University will present Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s. The exhibition explores mid-20th-century abstract art […]
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Moving across languages, national boarders, and cinematic styles, the wide spectrum of feminist filmmaking by women from the Middle East and North Africa is largely unknown in the United States. The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University sets out to shine a light on this body of work with Liberating History: Arab Feminisms and […]
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Prem Kapoor’s 1971 Hindi film Badnam Basti (Alley of Ill Repute) is considered one of the first Indian films to explore queer relationships. Based on a novel by Hindi writer Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena, it centers on a love triangle between two men and one woman on the margins of society. The film is noted for its adventurous […]
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Multilingual, minimal computing project brings exhibition to African partners and users worldwide What crosses continents, can travel 13 centuries into the past, and takes up just 10 MB on a smartphone? The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has released a free mobile web app designed to share the groundbreaking touring exhibition Caravans of […]
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A major exhibition opening at The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University on January 21, 2020, seeks to expand Western perspectives of modern art. Modernisms: Iranian, Turkish, and Indian Highlights from NYU’s Abby Weed Grey Collection surveys art from three nations where unique and vibrant forms of modernism sprang forth in the 1960s and […]
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