17 September 2019
Book Launch at Bahrain National Museum, Mona Khazindar: Arabia in ancient and modern representations New Titles Cultures and Civilizations Visions from Abroad
Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities organizes a lecture and book launch event “ Visions from Abroad Historical and Contemporary Representations of Arabia” by Mona Khazindar, at 7:00 pm, on 19 September 2019, at Bahrain National Museum Lecture Hall.
The book “Visions from Abroad Historical and Contemporary Representations of Arabia” constitutes the first world view of Arabia as seen by authors and artists with the common characteristic of being born outside the peninsula. These works, or rather the most captivating and successful of them in historical, anthropological and aesthetic terms, are gathered together here and presented in a 10 thematic chapters. It also addresses the often uncommon personalities of these figures, like the Italian Ludovico di Varthema from Bologna, who did not hesitate to become a Mamluk in 1503 in order to set foot on Arabian soil, and the British naval officer and writer Richard Burton, who managed to pass himself off as an Afghan physician and magician to the same end in 1853.
Arabia was certainly the most mysterious country in the world during the historical era, an impenetrable and unknowable realm capable of stimulating the imagination and indeed the wildest fancies of the European intellectual elite. A small handful did, however, risk their lives to journey through Arabia and return with the rare texts and images that form the subject of this publication.
Art historian Mona Khazindar is an expert on Arab visual arts in the modern and contemporary period, formerly director general of the Institut du Monde Arabe to which she was devoted for more than 20 years, and curator of a large number of very important exhibitions. A graduate of the Sorbonne, she has access to all the texts written on Arabia in every era as well as finely honed knowledge of the iconography of this part of the world. Mona Khazindar studied comparative literature at the American University in Paris graduated with a master's degree in modern history from the Sorbonne University, Paris. She is working currently as Saudi Culture Ministry Counselor.
