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      Melissa Gronlund

      Melissa Gronlund

      Art Correspondent
      Location
      London
      Melissa is an art correspondent for The National. Originally from New York City, she studied comparative literature at Princeton University and film aesthetics at Oxford. She is the author of Contemporary Art and Digital Culture. From 2007–2014 she lectured on contemporary art at Oxford University's Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art and co-edited the journal Afterall, based in London.
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      Articles

      Syrian artists frequently travelled abroad in the 1960s. Leila Sneir is pictured here during her studies in Cairo. Photo: Atassi Foundation
      Why Syria’s golden age of art is at risk of being forgotten

      Country’s modern artists were already under-represented during Al Assad family's long rule

      Art & DesignFebruary 07, 2025
      William Morris's 'Granada' pattern incorporates pomegranates and interlocking designs like those found across the Islamic world. Photo: William Morris Gallery
      How Islamic art became the fabric of quintessentially British design

      William Morris is behind some of the country's best-known patterns, but a new exhibition reveals how their roots lie in the Middle East

      CultureJanuary 03, 2025
      Beneath the Gaze of the Palms exhibition explores creative links between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Photo: Ruya Foundation
      Exhibition explores creative links between Iraq and Saudi Arabia

      Curators examine neighbouring countries' cultural ties in Beneath the Gaze of the Palms

      Art & DesignDecember 29, 2024
      Mohammed Al-Hawajri and Dina Mattar at Al Jahili Fort, where Mattar's paintings are on show. Photo: DCT – Abu Dhabi
      Gaza family of artists find safety and inspiration in the UAE

      Mohammed Al-Hawajri and Dina Mattar fled with their children as their home was destroyed by Israeli strikes – now, they both have work on display in Abu Dhabi

      Art & DesignDecember 18, 2024
      The Little Prince is widely thought to be the world's most translated book, apart from the Bible. Victor Besa / The National
      The Little Prince script up for sale for $1.2 million in Abu Dhabi

      French author, who died fighting against the Nazis, never saw it published in his homeland

      CultureNovember 22, 2024
      Lost Children is one of several works donated by Jeremy Deller to the fundraising auction. Photo: Jeremy Deller
      Artists unite to raise funds for medical care charity in Palestine

      Generosity has been 'immense', says organiser of auction to support Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

      CultureNovember 19, 2024
      From left, founder Mikey Muhanna, rapper Omar Offendun, composer Mona Miari and musician Zafer Tawil at Afikra's anniversary celebrations. Photo: Afikra
      How Afikra uses culture to reclaim Arab narratives

      Founder Mikey Muhanna opens up about his drive to replace the western media's view with stories of the real Arab world – by those who live there

      CultureNovember 11, 2024
      The house of the artist Abdul-Rahim Baalbaki has been destroyed. Photo: Lubnan Baalbaki
      Renowned Lebanese artist's home destroyed by Israeli forces

      They are erasing our heritage and our history, says son of the late painter and poet Abdul-Hamid Baalbaki

      Art & DesignOctober 31, 2024
      Abdul Qader Al Rais, the first Emirati visual artist who features in the book. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
      Balancing tradition and modernity to explore Emirati art's identity

      Sophie Kazan Makhlouf reflects on the UAE's creative scene from its formation in 1971 to the present day

      CultureOctober 14, 2024
      Iraqi-American musician and researcher Mark Gergis, who co-founded Syrian Cassette Archives, began collecting cassette tapes during visits to Syria in the 1990s. Photo: Syrian Cassette Archive
      The archival project introducing new generation to traditional Syrian music

      Fractured industry is slowly being rebuilt as cassette tapes are discovered, collected and digitised

      CultureOctober 13, 2024
      A wall painting featuring elephant riders battling real and mythical creatures created about AD 730 on display as part of Silk Roads at the British Museum in London. Getty Images
      British Museum's Silk Roads looks eastward – in more ways than one

      Extensive show highlights cultural exchanges across continents more than one thousand years ago

      Art & DesignOctober 07, 2024
      Zaboun, an oil on wood self-portrait by Safeya Binzagr from 1969. Photo: Darat Safeya Binzagr
      Trailblazing Saudi artist Safeya Binzagr dies aged 84

      A graduate of St Martin’s School of Art in London, she led the way for young artists and scholars of today in her country

      Art & DesignSeptember 12, 2024
      Shawky originally created Drama 1882 for the Venice Biennale's Egyptian pavilion. Photo: Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Lisson Gallery, Lia Rumma and Barakat Contemporary
      Wael Shawky's Venice Biennale hit eyes global success

      His production, which revisits Egypt's struggle for independence, recently won fans in Toronto and has the Middle East in its sights

      CultureSeptember 12, 2024
      Arabs have been typically left out of the stories of New York, but there were vibrant communities of immigrants from what was then the Ottoman Empire. Here, Syrian children in New York drink from a traditional samovar. Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Library of Congress
      Play01:22
      New York Narratives uncovers history of Arab and Muslim immigrants

      Brooklyn native Asad Dandia introduces tourists to places and stories historians might have missed

      CultureSeptember 02, 2024
      The painting Abstract Composition Around the Name Dorival by Iraqi artist Jamil Hamoudi, who studied in Paris, forms part of the exhibition. Photo: Pompidou
      How Arab is Paris? Art history might have the answer

      Museum of Modern Art show traces the profound impact of artists from French colonies on the capital

      CultureJuly 10, 2024
      More Articles

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