Examine the enduring impact of colonialism and orientalism within the mainstream history of modernism with scholar Nada Shabout. During this captivating virtual talk, discuss efforts to decolonize the field of art history and prioritize inclusion and equity. Shabout highlights the noticeable absence of Arab artists in conventional narratives about modern and contemporary art, and uses several past and present examples to emphasize the need to produce new knowledge and revise curricula to fully integrate Arab artists within the field.

Nada Shabout is a professor of art history and coordinator of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Initiative at the University of North Texas, Denton. She is the founding president of the Association for Modern and Contemporary Art from the Arab World, Iran and Turkey, and project advisor for the Saudi National Pavilion of the 2019 Venice Biennale. She is the author of Modern Arab Art: Formation of Arab Aesthetics (2007) and co-editor, with Salwa Mikdadi, of New Vision: Arab Art in the 21st Century (2009) and, with Anneka Lenssen and Sarah Rogers, of Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents, Museum of Modern Art (2018). Shabout has acted as curator for such exhibitions as Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art, (2005–2009), Modernism and Iraq, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University (2009), and Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art, Interventions: A Dialogue between the Modern and the Contemporary(2010).

This program is part of our annual Clarice Smith Distinguished Lectures in American Art series, which presents new insights into American art from the perspectives of outstanding artists, critics, and scholars. The series is made possible by the generosity of Clarice Smith.