Barjeel Art Foundation Collection: Imperfect Chronology – Debating Modernism I, Whitechapel Gallery

Next up on the Whitechapel Gallery's bid to bring fantastic hidden collections to light is the Barjeel Art Foundation's array of modern art treats from the Arab world. There will be four shows running chronologically to share the highlights of this overlooked, yet spectacular collection with the first instalment charting the emergence of modern Arab styles in drawing and painting from the early twentieth century to 1967 and the Six-Day War.
What is the Barjeel Art Foundation?
Based in the United Arab Emirates, the collection was founded by news commentator and twitter fanatic Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi in 2010 and now boasts a stellar array of works from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and beyond. 
Highlights
There will be beautiful revelations as well as more disturbing works on display at the Whitechapel Gallery, which seems fitting for this politically charged region. Look out for Hamed Ewais’s Le Guardien de la vie (1967-8), a large historical oil painting that shows an armed fighter dominating smaller images of the daily life. But perhaps the most extraordinary work you'll find is Kadhim Hayder’s Fatigued Ten Horses Converse with Nothing (The Martyrs Epic), (1965), where elongated, cylindrical white horses scream out against a surreal and dark landscape.