Middle East Think-Tank Opens Art Gallery in Washington, DC

10 Chant Avedissian Mrs Souad Labib, from the Icons of the Nile series, 1991–2004 Pigment and gum arabic on recycled cardboard, 50 x 70 cm. Courtesy of the artist, Rose Issa Projects, and a private collection, London

This weekend, The Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington, DC, a non-partisan think-tank, launched a new art gallery showing works of contemporary Middle Eastern artists. The gallery will hold five exhibitions per year, showing contemporary and Modern Middle Eastern Art. Its objective is to create a space for U.S.-Middle Eastern dialogue with pieces that tackle the concerns, battles, and fears of the Arab world. I am planning to visit the gallery during a trip to Washington this November.