By Myia Hamed
UNIVERSITY CITY, SHARJAH – About 40 College of Architecture, Art and Design students and faculty got a close look at an exhibition featuring the “100 Best Arabic Posters” Monday, selected by the Abu Dhabi-based Warehouse 421 art gallery.
The event filled a studio room with colorful posters. A graphic described the demographic breakdown of the artists and offered insight into their design styles.
Students and faculty walked among the posters, which were mounted on easels, pointing out and discussing their features.
The exhibition has toured various cities in the Middle East and was most recently part of Dubai Design Art Week.
Artistic themes included various fruits and olive trees, the use of regional national flag colors, and Arabic calligraphy.
Hala Al-Ani, an AUS assistant professor of art and design, who helped bring the exhibition to campus, noted significant style differences based on the artists’ locations. Styles differed depending on the artists’ native countries, she said, adding that there were significant differences between those living in the region and those of the Arab diaspora who had emigrated elsewhere.
Her colleague Asst. Prof. Riem Ibrahim credited Warehouse 421 with enabling CAAD to essentially “borrow their exhibition.” She said the venture “worked out well, so we are very happy with this collaboration.”
The posters remain on display in CAAD until Feb. 22.
