Hello and welcome,

Mathqaf (مَثقَف) aims to engage with art history, museology and contemporary practices from West Asia and North Africa (WANA) to broaden the historical and theoretical discourses on regional art and culture. With a dual purpose, Mathqaf is conceived as a platform and a collective to create, collaborate, curate and publish. Our aim is to champion artists and institutions from the region, in addition to documenting their practices. 

By involving artists, curators, collectors, museologists, and art practitioners, we aim to voice both collective and individual experiences to instigate relevant, inspiring, and thought-provoking ideas around modern and contemporary art. At the same time, Mathqaf offers resources on art and institutional histories including essays, biographies, interviews, and reviews. 

As a collective, we aim to put forward research-based exhibitions, publications, lectures, events, and collaborations that delve deeper into the theory and history of art and museology from the region. We are dedicated to continue the legacy of some of the leading art historians and platforms that have worked towards the documentation and historicisation of art, but also strengthen the connection between art, artists, and audiences to enrich our individual and collective understanding of how art is formerly and presently practiced in WANA.

Lastly, we would like to thank our dear friend Abdulrahman Alkubaisi, artist and curator, who initiated Mathqaf with us in 2019.

More soon,

Elina and Wadha