Saloua Raouda Choucair at Tate Modern
Out of Lebanon: Saloua Raouda Choucair “… Listen to this symphony with your eyes as you would listen to a concert with your ears” Georges Cyr, 1952 It’s been more than six decades since Saloua Raouda Choucair, pioneer Lebanese abstract artist, did the first abstract exhibition of the Arab world. Nevertheless, today is the first time that a major museum presents her work in the West. Saloua Raouda Choucair opened its doors at Tate Modern in April and it was open until October of 2013. Lebanon has always been one of the most liberal Arab countries, contaminated by influences from both the East and West. Most Lebanese’s pioneers of modern art went to Europe, namely to London, Paris or Rome, where they attended art school. However, only during the second half of the 20th Century female artists started to flourish in Lebanon. Choucair, born 1916, is one of the most vanguardist woman artists of these first generations. She explored and experimented with new techniques and materials. Her work combines Western abstraction with Islamic aesthetics, simultaneously …