Arsheef Gallery and Middle East Institute Bring Yemeni and Middle Eastern Art to Light

Founded in late 2019 by artist Ibi Ibrahim and British curator Lizzy Vartanian Collier, Arsheef is a gallery exclusively dedicated to emerging Yemeni art, both from artists still in the country and those who have emigrated due to war. In over six months, it has hosted photographers, painters, and performers, including Asim Abdulaziz, Shaima al-Tamimi, Ammar Baras, and most recently 25-year-old Abeer Aref, whose photographic series 'Would You Count My Pain Though I Shed No Tear?' documents war archaeology through everyday objects. The gallery, currently without a website but active on Instagram, plans to participate in at least two international art fairs. Separately, the Gallery for Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, the artistic arm of the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., opened in September 2019 but is currently closed due to COVID-19. It aims to present the Middle East from an artistic rather than geopolitical perspective, helping policymakers understand the role of art in social changes from Riyadh to Beirut and Tehran.