Emiratis Mohamed Al Mazrouei and Layla Juma are among 25 artists whose work will feature in a new exhibition in Switzerland.
Held by the Lucerne-based Oryx Foundation to mark its fifth anniversary, There Are Too Many Walls But Not Enough Bridges opens on Sunday, offering an insight into the contemporary art scene in the Middle East and Iran.
It is the biggest group show of regional talent in a Swiss museum, and includes Mina Nasr from Egypt, who has been commissioned to create an 11-metre painting especially for the show; Hassan Meer from Oman; Talal Al Zeid from Saudi Arabia; and Iran’s Shahriar Ahmadi, Samira Hodaei, Hamed Rashtian, Nastaran Safari and Azadeh Razaghdoost.
Since its launch in 2001, the not-for-profit organisation has invited talent from across the Gulf region and Iran as artists in residence for short periods of two to three months every year.
A series of talks, presentations and guided tours are also planned during the course of the exhibition.
• There Are Too Many Walls But Not Enough Bridges opens on Sunday and runs until August 16 at the Kunst (Zeug) Haus Rapperswil near Zurich, Switzerland. Visit www.oryx-foundation.com for more information
artslife@thenational.ae
