Abu Dhabi, UAE, 18 February 2025: al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) released new collections of digitized documents now available online. They are part of the Arab Art Archive initiative, developed to facilitate free access to research materials on modern Arab art,  available onsite and via NYU Libraries’ archival collections portal. Among the accessible documents are collections from leading Arab artists including Rafa Nasiri and May Muzaffar,  Ahmad Nawash,  Hanaa Malallah,  Salah Taher, and Mahmoud Hammad.

Representing more than 45,000 scans and growing, the Arab Art Archive represents careful negotiations with custodians of archival collections, ensuring that valued materials are processed, digitized, and preserved for the future. The archive includes exhibition material, artists’ writings, press clippings, as well as photographs of the art and art events, all previously unavailable to researchers. 

The release is another step forward in the Center’s long-term mission to connect global audiences with access to primary documents on the history of visual arts in the Arab world. The Center is continually adding to the Arab Art Archive; six additional collections are currently undergoing digitization.

Director and Principal Investigator of al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art Salwa Mikdadi said: “The task of redressing gaps in archival scholarship and heritage management has only become more urgent in the digital age, when differences in ‘findability’ can determine whose stories are told. The Center’s research and archive teams' diverse expertise, its ethical approaches to digital assets, and its commitment to public scholarship create a unique, world-class hub for innovative research in the arts connecting the past to the future.”

The Center also maintains an extensive research library of Arabic-language books and rare periodicals, an online platform to share research (Sawt al-Arsheef), and a publication series of translated artist memoirs and texts. Attracting attention from scholars across disciplines and professions, the Arab Art Archive now anchors courses in art history, art practice, and curation at NYUAD and generates major public programs with UAE universities and art institutions.