DOHA.- Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar presents a major solo exhibition by Egyptian artist Wael Shawky opening on Tuesday 17 March 2015.

The exhibition, Wael Shawky: Crusades and Other Stories, presents large-scale installations of two film series – Cabaret Crusades (2010 – 2014) and Al Araba Al Madfuna (2012 – 2015). Also included is a selection of marionettes from the Cabaret Crusades and drawings from both video series. The exhibition will be staged in an original architectural setting and scenography specially created for the Museum.

Wael Shawky is acclaimed as one of the most powerful and urgent voices to emerge from the Middle East in the last decade. Mathaf Director and curator of the exhibition, Abdellah Karroum, speaking about the exhibition, said: “Wael Shawky touches on subjects of history and political and social change, while re-thinking models of artistic practice to invent new visual languages.” His films, installations, and performances explore histories of culture and literature in the contemporary moment by recreating written and oral testaments of societal, economic, and political change.

The script and structure of the film series Cabaret Crusades draw on sources of writing from the period as presented in Amin Maalouf’s The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (1983), referencing the historical fight for power that is still present today. As the artist said in a recent interview with Abdellah Karroum, “Rather than dealing with this historical written text as something archival, I am trying to discover more through transforming this into a new form of creation.” Offering further insight, Shawky explains that the handmade marionettes, the central protagonists of the films, create a “surreal and mythical atmosphere that blends drama and cynicism.” The three films that comprise Cabaret Crusades were produced over a period of four years, the most recent being commissioned by Qatar Museums in 2014.

The show will also premiere a new film commissioned by Mathaf for the exhibition, completing the three-part series, Al Araba Al Madfuna (2012 – 2015), a re-telling of the stories of Egyptian novelist Mohamed Mustagab.

Wael Shawky was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1971. His practice spanning video, drawing, and performance are in-depth productions about the way history and mythology are written, offering crucial perspectives on contemporary narratives of uncertainty and change. Shawky is a major artist of his generation, developing an original art vocabulary dealing with global aesthetic and political issues. His work is exhibited internationally, most recently in solo exhibitions at MoMA PS1, New York (2015); K20, Düsseldorf (2014); Serpentine Gallery, London (2013); KW Berlin (2012); and large scale group exhibitions including Sharjah Biennial (2013); and dOCUMENTA (13) (2012). His work is collected by public institutions such as MoMA, New York, MACBA, Barcelona, and Qatar Museums, Doha.