Since its inception, Townhouse Gallery has aimed at developing and improving the knowledge, appreciation and practice of contemporary arts in Egypt, supporting in this way the growth of an independent arts community.
With this in mind, Townhouse Gallery has been running an Independent Study Program (ISP) since January 2010 which focuses on the history and historiography of modern and contemporary art in the Middle East.
The ISP at Townhouse stems from the gallery's experience running curatorial workshops for the last two years and addresses the need to build a local base of individuals with the necessary knowledge to consider a career in the arts-whether in curating, critical writing, research or academia. By maintaining a strong focus on the different modern and contemporary art histories of the Middle East, the ISP attempts to instigate regional knowledge sharing while feeding into ongoing efforts to document contemporary art practices in Egypt and the broader region.
After issuing a call for applications, an independent jury made up of Cairo-based professors and directors of arts organizations selected a group of 22 participants, the majority from Egypt, but also two Jordanian, one Palestinian and a Bahraini participant. Participants come from diverse backgrounds and include artists, art historians, arts managers, journalists, writers and documentary filmmakers.
The program will alternate critical seminars questioning the way regional art history is (and has been) written with courses chiefly centering on art practices in Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and Iran. Up until now, they have held 6 seminars:
(i) an introductory seminar raising questions about the historiography of modern Arab art led by Rasha Salti and Kristine Khouri
(ii) a critical seminar looking at the emergence of modernism in the region with emphasis on Lebanon and Palestine led by Kirsten Scheid
(iii) a seminar on Egyptian contemporary art led by Clare Davies
(iv) a seminar on modern and contemporary Iranian art led by Shiva Balaghi
(v) a seminar providing a critical introduction to visual anthropology and how it intersects with visual culture and art - with particular emphasis on Lebanese video and photography led by Mark Westmoreland
(vi) a critical seminar looking at the state of scholarship on contemporary art of the Middle East and the future of the field led by Dina Ramadan and Sarah Rogers
The final ISP seminar on contemporary Palestinian art will take place at the end of June and will be led by Adila Laidi-Hanieh.
The aim is to make the ISP a sustainable and regular program at the Townhouse with different themes every year that will respond to existing needs and interests related to contemporary art(historical) practices.