The shortlist for Jameel Prize 5 has been announced. The prize, which carries £25,000 (Dh130,000), is a collaboration between the V&A in London and Art Jameel, headquartered in Jeddah, that recognises contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition. This year’s nominees are Kamrooz Aram, Hayv Kahraman, Hala Kaiksow, Mehdi Moutashar, Naqsh collective, Younes Rahmoun, Wardha Shabbir, and Marina Tabassum. As in previous years the list reflects a range of creative mediums, from contemporary art and fashion design to architecture. In a statement, the V&A’s director, Tristram Hunt, said, “This year’s outstanding shortlist displays real diversity; the judges found beauty, spirituality, complexity, humour and humanity.” The shortlist also reflects generational diversity: The established Iraqi artist Mehdi Moutashar, who left Iraq in the 1960s, works in abstract expressionism. His work will sit alongside that of a younger Iraqi exile, the artist Hayv Kahraman, whose work (pictured above) addresses the US occupation of Iraq and the faultlines of communication between the soldiers and the population they apparently sought to protect.<br/> <strong>_______________</strong> <strong>Read more</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/changing-saudi-art-scene-new-arts-complex-to-open-in-jeddah-1.699854">Changing Saudi art scene: New arts complex to open in Jeddah</a></strong> <strong>_______________</strong> The Jameel Prize this year includes an architect for the first time: Marina Tabassum, who works in Dhaka, Bangladesh, whose architectural projects meld traditional Bengali design with contemporary forms. Nisreen Abudail, who with her sister Nermeen forms the Amman-based Naqsh Collective, was likewise trained in architecture. The biannual prize is accompanied by an exhibition of the shortlisted artists’ work at the V&A, from 28 June until 25 November 2018. The jurors were the independent design historian Tanya Harrod; November Paynter, Director of Programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto; and the artist Ghulam Mohammad, who was winner of Jameel Prize 4. ________________ <strong>Read more:</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/the-mosaic-of-private-art-foundations-shaping-the-scene-in-the-uae-1.56418">The ‘mosaic’ of private art foundations shaping the scene in the UAE</a></strong> ________________
