Plantu and Dilem exchange their newspapers

A historic week ends. To mark the 50th anniversary of the independence of Algeria, Plantu and Dilem exchanged their “pencils.” The French cartoonist of Le Monde drew daily in the Algerian newspaper Liberté, and Dilem in the highlight of Le Monde : this is the way these two cartoonists, pillars of “Cartooning for Peace”, celebrate [...]

Website hacked

Our website was hacked. It is once again available but most of the contents have disappeared. We should be able to recover them next week. In the meantime, we are sorry to offer you an incomplete and unaesthetic site. Thank you for your understanding.

2011 in review

The end of the year marks the time for balance. Eventful, including the revolutions that shook the Arab world since the beginning of the year, 2011 will also be remembered for the European economic crisis that disrupts global economy while the famine continues to spread. This year freedom of expression has unfortunately been the target [...]

What Does Twitter’s Country-by-Country Takedown System Mean for Freedom of Expression?

Yesterday, Twitter announced in a blog post that it was launching a system that would allow the company to take down content on a country-by-country basis, as opposed to taking it down across the Twitter system. Eva Galperin explains what the new system will, and will not, allow.

Netizen Report: Uprising Edition

Netizens around the world took collective action with a mass Internet black out on January 18th to protest the U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect-IP Act. But that was not the only news in the global struggle for freedom and control on the Internet. In our latest twice-monthly report, we take a look at developments concerning netizen rights all over the world.

New Book Proposes Open Internet Policies for Latin America

Last week, the Center for the Study of Free Expression (CELE) at Argentina’s University of Palermo released a book addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing Latin American digital rights advocates today, with contributions by leading policy experts from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.

International Privacy Day: Fighting Data Retention Mandates Around the World

This January 28 marks International Privacy Day. Different countries around the world are celebrating this day with their own events. In EFF, we are calling on governments to repeal mandatory data retention schemes. Mandatory data retention harms individuals' anonymity, which is crucial for whistle-blowers, investigators, journalists, and for political speech....

Thaier Helal - In Army We Trust

Thaier Helal 'Untitled' 170 x 170 Mixed Media on Canvas 2012

February 6 - March 15, 2012
Ayyam Gallery

Opening: February 6 at 7pm
Exhibition Dates: February 7 – March 15, 10am to 8pm

On February 6, Ayyam Gallery, Dubai (DIFC) will proudly present “In Army We Trust ” an exhibition featuring recent canvases by Syrian painter Thaier Helal. Known for his large mixed media canvases that perpetually demonstrate the evolution of his artistic style, the artist will present an entire new body of work incorporating photographs of the Syrian military forces originally taken by the media. Helal’s photographs are re-staged and enlarged in ways that provoke a direct - physical encounter with the images. The works presented have a shared quality under which is heavy and deeply meaningful, which will only immerse the viewer even deeper in his thoughts.

Over the last decade, the ongoing political turbulence, military conflicts within the Middle East and their uneasy aftermath have impacted on a generation of contemporary artists which led Helal to consequently explore such a theme as the Army’s role in today’s society. His work is arguably cerebral, concentrating on issues of power, expression and liberation. Through these works of art, he therefore reflects and reveals that which is integral to the Army’s foundation, mythology and daily functioning.

Born in Syria in 1967, the distinguished artist has become a significant member of the Arab and Gulf Art scene since moving to the United Arab Emirates in the 1990s. A senior faculty member of the University of Sharjah, Fine Arts College, he has participated in prominent exhibitions and events throughout the region, including the Sharjah, Alexandria and Tehran Biennials and Christie's and Bonhams auctions.

A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus, his prominence is confirmed by the countless honors that have been bestowed upon him, such as the Al Burda International Award from the Emirati Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development (2008), the Grand Gold Award at the Tehran International Biennial (2005), the Award for Painting at the Sharjah International Biennial (1997) and the Distinguished Works Award at the 15th General Exhibition of the UAE Fine Arts Association (1996). Yet Helal's long exhibition history is not limited to the Middle East, as he has been featured in international art fairs, biennials and exhibitions throughout Asia and Europe.

Since its founding in 2006, Ayyam Gallery has become one of the Middle East’s leading contemporary art spaces. With a selection of cutting-edge painting, sculpture and photography that represents some of the Arab world’s most exciting talent, the gallery has sought to promote the region's dynamic cultural scene at home and abroad.

For interviews with the artist or any further details, please contact us at +971 4 4392395 or email difc@ayyamgallery.com

Hilda Hiary - 'Impulses II'

HHI13 Hilda Hiary 'Daraa & Ramtha' 150 X 150 cm. Acrylic on Canvas 2011

January 19 - February 13, 2012
Ayyam Gallery

Vernissage: Thursday, January 19 at 7pm
Exhibition Dates: January 19 – February 13, 10am to 8pm

On Thursday January 19, Ayyam Gallery Beirut will proudly present “Impulses II” the solo exhibition of Jordanian artist Hilda Hiary. This forthcoming event will showcase a new series of works that have been inspired by recent political upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa. Taking the vantage point of what she describes as a “witness of this era,” Hiary presents over a dozen new paintings in which figures become templates for raw emotion as they are suspended in non-descript settings that allude to both interior and exterior spaces, or private verses public realms.

Resulting from a visceral sense of expression, these recent canvases are testimonies to the artist’s own reactions to the formidable events of the past year as the Arab world has been forced to entered a new phase in its modern history. In much of Hiary’s work, these changes are captured by outlines of the female body in the form of many incarnations: as a mother, as a young woman who sneaks away to meet her lover, as a screaming prisoner, as a muffled Egyptian songstress Oum Kalthoum. Sometimes appearing as fragmentations, these representations capture an uncertain reality in which women remain steadfast in the face of adversity. Acting as a metaphoric terrain upon which patterns and brushstrokes take on the psychic weight of an engulfing turmoil, Hiary utilizes the emotive quality of abstraction to summarize the everyday impact of these recent times.

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Hilda Hiary will be present on the opening day and during the first week of the exhibition. For interview with the artist or any further details, please contact us at +961 1 374450 or email us at: beirut@ayyamgallery.com.

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Born in Jordan in 1969, Hilda Hiary graduated from Amman’s Al Zaytoonah University with a BA in Fine Arts in 2004. Prior to receiving her academic training, she had exhibited as a self-taught artist for nearly a decade. Since the mid 1990s, she has been featured in solo and group shows in the Middle East, Europe, the US and Asia, while contributing to symposiums, festivals, workshops and biennales. Although primarily a painter, she has also produced a number of video works and installations, several of which have been exhibited internationally. Hiary is the recipient of many awards, most notably an honorable mention from the Asian Art Biennale in Bangladesh and first prize for installation art from the Cairo International Biennale.

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Since its founding in 2006, Ayyam Gallery has become one of the Arab world's leading art spaces. With a selection of cutting-edge painting, sculpture and photography that represents some of the Middle East's most exciting talent, the gallery has sought to promote the region's dynamic cultural scene at home and abroad. For more information visit www.ayyamgallery.com