Current Exhibition
ARAB POP ART
Between East and West
September 12, 2025 - January 23, 2026
Co-curated by Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah & Lyne Sneige
Arab Pop Art: Between East and West explores the evolution of an art movement that blends Arab cultural motifs and symbols with the visual language of Western Pop art. Emerging in the 1960s, Arab pop art exploded with the rise of social media and new digital technologies in the 2000s. Today, Arab pop artists harness creativity, satire and a savvy awareness of street culture to comment on social and political issues in the Middle East, while also challenging regional stereotypes.
Featuring 14 artists from the Arab world and its diaspora, the exhibition explores the emergence of Arab Pop art as a bold fusion of cultural identity and global visual language that highlights a vibrant, evolving and cosmopolitan Arab identity. The 35 works on display blend everyday symbols, regional motifs and cultural commentary with striking imagery reminiscent of Western pop art icons like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The result is a show that challenges norms and informs new perspectives on art, identity, and culture in the Middle East.
The MEI Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 am - 5 pm. Select artworks will be available for sale.
Participating artists: Yusef Alahmad (Saudi Arabia/US), Chant Avedissian (Egypt), Marwan Chamaa (Lebanon/US), Yasmine Nasser Diaz (Yemen/US), Rasha Eleyan (Palestine/UK), Hassan Hajjaj (Morocco), Tony Khawam (Syria/US), Mous Lamrabat (Morocco), Ilyes Messaoudi (Tunisia), Qarm Qart (Egypt/Italy), Rana Salam (Lebanon), Water With Water (Nathan Ross Davis & Sarah Elawad, Qatar), Helen Zughaib (Lebanon/US).
Lead sponsorship by theOpen Mind Project, additional support provided by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Washington, D.C.
Closing Soon
Maximal Miniatures
Contemporary Art from Iran
January 31 - August 22, 2025
Curated by Donna Honarpisheh
Maximal Miniatures features the work of 13 leading contemporary Iranian artists who reimagine the rich visual tradition of the Persian miniature genre through inventive formal techniques, including experimentations with scale, color, composition, figuration, and abstraction. As an art form, the Persian miniature is grounded in a relationship between text and image in which paintings refer to poetic verses, stories from theBook of Kings (Shahnameh), important battles, heroes, and heroines, using a combination of calligraphic lines, architectural forms, and human figures.
Building upon the miniature’s transnational legacy, the featured artists cross multiple boundaries in their work to focus on questions of identity, gender, ecology, diaspora, and the mythologies that form past and present lives. These new interpretations create images that transcend representation and enter into the realm of the surreal, abstract, and otherworldly. By expanding the miniature form beyond its position as an illustrative work tied to the illumination of manuscripts, these artists point to the aesthetic possibilities of the miniature genre and create new maximal works across painting, sculpture, and works on paper.
Featured artists: Reza Derakshani, Parinaz Eleish, Amir H. Fallah, Arghavan Khosravi, Farideh Lashai, Farah Ossouli, Kour Pour, Elham Pourkhani, Shahpour Pouyan, Iman Raad, Bahar Sabzevari, Soraya Sharghi, Mahsa Tehrani.
Book appointment to visit in person
Visit the MEI Art Gallery
The MEI Art Gallery is open to the public weekdays from 10am to 5pm (closed for federal holidays). Visitors are encouraged to register for a timed visit at the link below, but walk-ins are also welcome.
Opening Art Talk - Louder Than Hearts: Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran
MEI Arts and Culture Center Director Lyne Sneige speaks with photographer and exhibition curator Rania Matar about her work in MEI's latest gallery exhibition "Louder Than Hearts: Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran."
No events are currently scheduled for this program. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive notification of events as they are added to the calendar.
Tribe Photo Magazine
Tribe is a non-profit publication focused on documenting photography, video and new media from the Arab world. As a global platform, its core mission is to create an archive and stimulate dialogue about the artists--emerging and established--who are defining their practice.
Louder Than Hearts: Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran
May 9, 2024 - January 10, 2025
The Sea of Life: Modern and Contemporary Art from The Kingdom of Bahrain
November 29, 2023 - March 26, 2024
Support this unique platform for the exhibition of contemporary art from the Middle East.
Publications and Podcasts
Event Recap
The Middle East Institute’s Arts and Culture Center and The Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation in partnership with the Cheuse Center for International Writers at George Mason University were proud to present a two-day, virtual literature festival featuring writers and poets from the Middle East. Panels explored the works and experiences of leading and emerging Arab authors and poets and the challenges of publishing and translating works from the Middle East.
International Arts Advisory Committee
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
Hatem Alzahrani
Saleh Barakat
Touria El Glaoui
Leila Heller
Rose Issa
Adila Laïdi-Hanieh
Salwa Mikdadi
Venetia Porter
Creators' Corner
An interview series featuring leading Arab and Arab-American actors, comedians, directors, writers and other ground-breaking creators highlighting their important contributions to the global cultural scene. Produced and hosted by Emmy-nominated journalist and producer Rhana Natour.