Ruba Katrib Creations - SAIC

The New York Times Highlights Exhibition on Wars in Iraq, Curated by Ruba Katrib

The New York Times  highlighted a current exhibition at MoMA PS1, Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 1991–2011, co-curated by Ruba Katrib (BA 2004). The show features artists from the United States as well from the Persian Gulf to offer, as the article states, “an unprecedented encounter.” SAIC alums include Wafaa Bilal (MFA 2003), Deborah Stratman (BFA 1990), Roger Brown (BFA 1968, MFA 1970), and Paul Chan (BFA 1996). 

The article describes how the show explores the political conversation between these two groups of artists: “Together, their works narrate the entanglement of the United States and Iraq over two ruinous decades of violence, sanctions and insurgency. The result is a powerful view of the cultural impact of the Persian Gulf and Iraq wars with which American art institutions too rarely engage.” American art institutions are shy to engage with such weighted political content. MoMA PS1 brings American audiences to face histories they may want to turn away from in the show, which runs through March 1.