SELF-REPRESENTATION IN THE ARABIAN GULF

Acknowledgements
     curators Natalie Bailey and Sally Van Gorder

	Ebtisam Abdul Aziz  |  Autobiography
	Manal Al Dowayan  |  I Am
	Tarek Al Ghoussein  |  Blue 2007
	Madeline McGehee  |  Photographs

The initial concept for Self-Representation in the Arabian Gulf was first presented to the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar Gallery Committee in 2005. Our proposal was made in response to the queries of VCUQatar students in the photography studio about the perception of self-portraiture, self-image, and identity in the region, and our desire to create a contemporary lens-based exhibition featuring artists working in the Arabian Gulf.
 
We would like to express our deep appreciation to the community of artists represented in this exhibition. Their web of associations and gracious introductions allowed us to explore photographic and moving-image work that we might have otherwise overlooked or were at the time unaware of. It is our hope that we have provided a venue in which their work is valued, respected, and made visible to the community of Qatar. We are privileged to have met and worked with all of them.
 
The exhibition would not have been possible without the assistance of several individuals and groups. We would like to thank the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 VCUQatar Gallery Committees, Gallery director Dr. Jochen Sokoly, and the VCUQatar Faculty Research Committee for funding our travel and research. Further acknowledgments are due to Patricia Paine Gibbons and Jeff Lodge for their endless editing and proofreading; Tyrone Wilkins for coordinating our building requests; Sisenato Ocampo and Kevin Dunn for their help in arranging the exhibition’s technological needs; Brian Geary for his help with installation; and JP Reuer for his help planning the gallery layout. A special thank you is in order for Sherry Blankenship for the design of the catalog. We would also like to express our appreciation to Jamal al Moosawi Hassanovich and the British Council for sharing with us five of Camille Zakharia’s images from the Distorted Memories series.  

Natalie Bailey is an educator, museum specialist, and curator. She was born in Columbus, Ohio, USA and completed her BA in Art History at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, in 1997. In 2002, she completed her MA in Art History and Museum Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, before working in the collections department at the Valentine Richmond History Center. In 2004, she moved to Doha, Qatar, where she is currently an assistant professor of art history at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar.

Sally Van Gorder is a multidisciplinary artist working in video, photography, sound, installaion, and printmaking. Her work has been exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Duke University Museum of Art, The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, and has been screened in film festivals such as the Ann Arbor Film Festival, DOXA Documentary Film Festival, 1 Reel, and the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. She has received numerous awards, honors, and grants, and her work has been reviewed in the New Art Examiner and Art Papers. She has worked in the television broadcasting industry for over ten years as a motion graphic designer and as a producer for clients such as Cartoon Network, GlaxoSmithKline, Hanes, IBM, Children's Television Workshop, CNN and The Body Shop. Van Gorder recently returned to the US from Doha, Qatar where she was assistant professor of graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar. She is currently at work on a new short film on perceptions of leadership across cultures.

  Introduction: Self-Representation in the Arabian Gulf

   Ebtisam Abdul Aziz  |  Autobiography  
   Manal Al Dowayan  |  I Am  
   Tarek Al Ghoussein  |  Blue 2007     
   Madeline McGehee  |  Photographs

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