{
  "id": 18342723,
  "title": "A new home for Arab art: Sharjah's Barjeel museum to open in 2028",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/a-new-home-for-arab-art-sharjahs-barjeel-museum-to-open-in-2028",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T16:41:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/the-kurator/style/a-new-home-for-arab-art-sharjahs-barjeel-museum-to-open-in-2028-1.500737590"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In early 2028, the Barjeel Art Foundation's collection of more than 2,000 works of modern and contemporary art from the Arab world will find a new home at a museum in Sharjah. Rémi Homs, curator of the Barjeel Art Foundation, remarks that the museum's architecture reflects the foundation's ethos, combining a simple yet serious institution with a strong sense of home. The museum, designed by Mohamed Essa, will span over 4,000 square meters on a plot of land provided by the ruler of Sharjah.\n\nThe artworks housed in the museum will be neighbors to each other, bringing a diverse range of perspectives together. Rémi Homs emphasizes that each artwork originates from an individual artist's unique way of seeing the world, and when these distinct viewpoints are combined, they create a fascinating social mix. Some of the notable pieces include Mahmoud Said's contemplative Girl in a Printed Dress (1938), Inji Efflatoun's Dreams of the Detainee (1961), Baya's flamboyant Femme à la Robe Rose (1945), and Samia Halaby's Two Diagonals (1968).\n\nThe museum's visual language is pared back, emphasizing simplicity, clean geometry, and balanced proportions. The design intentionally avoided unnecessary architectural lines and decorative elements, creating a sense of intimacy, comfort, and belonging for both visitors and artworks. Rémi Homs explains that this approach aims to make visitors feel as welcome at the museum as they would in their own homes.\n\nBeyond providing a respite for the artworks, the museum also offers a new perspective on modernity outside the Western canon. Rémi Homs highlights the importance of bringing sidelined artistic practices into the narrative and being transparent about collecting decisions. By moving away from a purely chronological or geographical display, the museum seeks to reveal the diversity and vibrancy of artistic creation in the Arab world, with artists, ideas, and practices traveling across borders.\n\nThe foundation's exhibition policy since 2019 has focused on equal gender representation, with women artists constituting at least 50% of the works on display. Rémi Homs notes that this approach addresses the underrepresentation of women artists in Western museums of modern art. Additionally, the museum will feature works by figures from the Baghdad Modern Art Group, such as Jewad Selim and Shakir Hassan Al Said, alongside artists who were developing their practices around the same time but are less documented. This approach allows the museum to offer a more nuanced picture of the Iraqi artistic landscape.",
  "summary": "What makes a great neighbour? Good manners are useful. Prying is best avoided. Being interesting without insisting upon it is better still. But perhaps the most intriguing ones are those who don’t reveal themselves all at once. The question has been on my mind since I learnt that the Barjeel Art Foundation’s collection, comprising more than 2,000 works of modern and contemporary art from the Arab…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}