Deal signed to promote traditional arts in Saudi Arabia

DOHA: One of revered Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s best-known paintings is now on display at the National Museum of Qatar. Titled “Baile en Tehuantepec” (“Dance in Tehuantepec”) and completed in 1920, it depicts a group of female Oaxacan dancers dressed in bright costumes poised to begin the Zandunga dance. The painting, like others by Riviera at the time, aimed to depict the social life of Mexico. With time, the work, exhibited a few years later at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, became one of the most expensive paintings in Latin American art.

Nearly a century after Riviera painted the work, it is on show in Doha in “LATINOAMERICANO,” a comprehensive exhibition running until July 19. Showcasing over 170 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, installation, video, photographs, films and archival documentation by over 100 artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Paraguay, Mexico, Venezuela and Uruguay, the exhibition offers an in-depth look at Latin American art from 1900 to the present in what marks the first-ever show of its kind in West Asia and North Africa for the genre.

The exhibition, organized in partnership with Qatar Museums, is a pivotal aspect of the Qatar, Argentina and Chile 2025 Year of Culture. It presents modern and contemporary artworks from the collections of Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Eduardo F. Costantini and Qatar Museums institutions like Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Future Art Mill Museum, among others.

Curated by Issa Al-Shirawi, a Qatari curator, researcher and head of international exhibitions at Qatar Museums, and Maria Amalia Garcia, curator in chief at Malba, the show ambitiously strives to capture the diverse art and culture of an entire continent.

“The exhibition promotes an exchange of knowledge through art, continuing Qatar Museums’ emphasis on showing art histories from underrated and underappreciated art histories,” Al-Shirawi told Arab News, underlining how Latin American artists have consistently challenged narratives, readapted local traditions and influenced artistic movements across the world.

There are several pieces Al-Shirawi notes that highlight the artistic exchange between the Middle East and Latin America.

One is by Uruguayan-born artist Gonzalo Fonseca who traveled to the Middle East during the 1950s where he visited archaeological sites that made a lasting impact on his sculptural work, highly conceptual with great references to architectural forms.

Another is a vibrant painting by Lebanese-born artist Bibi Zogbe, who emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina and became known throughout South America as “la pintura de flores” (“the flower painter”).

These works are displayed alongside those of both globally renowned artists from the continent, like Colombian artist Fernando Botero, Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, Belkis Ayon, also from Cuba, known for her work on African influences in the Caribbean island, and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, among many others.

The exhibition’s in-depth thematic sections provide a first taste for those new to Latin American art.

“At first, we thought we would organize the show chronologically, but then we realized that it was crucial to show the connections between traditional art and various modern and contemporary movements and what influenced these,” Al-Shirawi aid. “How does the traditional translate back into the contemporary? And how does the contemporary go back to the traditional?

A poignant multisensory installation that demonstrates this and that, in Al-Shirawi’s opinion, serves as one of the “anchor” works for the exhibition is by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna. Titled “Quipu desparecido” (“Disappeared Quipu,” 2018), it refers to the Andean civilization’s quipus — knotted strings made of colored and spun or plied wood or llama hair — used to record information. The practice was crucial to societal organization across the ancient Incan Empire but was decimated by the Spanish colonization. Vicuna’s artwork pays homage to these important threads to reactivate the memory of the quipus, which she refers to as a “poem in space, a way to remember, involving the body and the cosmos at once.”

DUBAI: Lebanese actress and comedian Maya Akra has spent years carving out her niche across Beirut and New York. This year, that journey reached a new milestone when “Anora,” a film she appears in, won five Oscars, including Best Picture.

But for Akra, the recognition is just one part of a much longer story.

“I was raised by ‘Comedy Central’ (and) … ‘The Nanny.’ Fran Drescher was my hero,” Akra told Arab News. Her early love of performance was sparked at home, where her father, a filmmaker, recorded endless hours of her childhood on VHS. “Being in front of the camera has been my reality since I was a baby. I have hours of footage from my childhood, sometimes just talking endlessly like I was the host of my own show. Somehow that early lens shaped me,” she said.

She began performing on stage at a young age, often drawing from real-life experiences marked by grief, resilience and reinvention. After building her career in Lebanon — working behind the scenes at MTV, acting in student films and her comedy sketches going viral — Akra moved to New York to pursue acting and stand-up full-time.

Now part of the city’s vibrant improv and comedy scene, she has performed at venues such as The Stand, Stand Up NY and Broadway Comedy Club.

Her acting work includes short films, commercials and theater, often centered around stories of identity and migration. “I’m drawn to stories that spotlight the emotional and cultural struggles of Arab immigrants,” she said.

Akra is passionate about breaking the mold for Arab characters onscreen. “Arab talent is slowly gaining more visibility in Western media… (but) the industry still has a long way to go. Too often, the roles offered to Arab actors are still limited to certain tropes, like the villain, the terrorist or the oppressed woman.

“We have so many untold stories that reflect the diversity and success of Arabs in America,” she added.

While “Anora” was not an Arab story, being part of an indie project that defied expectations — and that went on to sweep the Oscars — was a powerful moment for Akra. She had been invited to the ceremony but did not attend.

“I didn’t even watch the ceremony. I had just moved into my apartment. I was in a really emotional place. I had just lost my aunt,” she recalled. “Then suddenly, I got a message: ‘You’re featured in the Best Picture of 2024!’ I was stunned. It felt completely surreal. I was so happy, and I couldn’t stop smiling.”

Looking ahead, Akra is focused on continuing to tell real, layered stories through both comedy and drama. “I carry Lebanon with me into every room,” she said. “I’ll be at the Oscars when I win my own one day. I’m claiming that.”