Mathaf co-hosts seventh global art forum

The Arab Museum of Modern Art (Mathaf) hosts tomorrow, on Sunday the 7th edition of the Global Art Forum, an annual regional platform for cultural discussion and debate that brings together a diverse line-up of participants, including artists, musicians, writers, and thinkers.The six-day forum, which features live talks and display of commissioned projects, will run in Doha on March 17 and 18 and will continue at Art Dubai in Jumeirah from March 20-23. The forum is presented by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), and is held in partnership with Mathaf.This year, Global Art Forum is directed by Istanbul-based writer and editor HG Masters, and commissioned by writer and curator Shumon Basar. Under the theme of “It Means This,” the forum explores the concept of ‘definitionism’: investigating the words, terms, cliches and misunderstandings that proliferate in the art world and beyond. The Forum attempts to redefine words, phrases and ideas we think we know, and those we need to know, to navigate the 21st century.Each session or element of the forum will focus on a keyword; some are terms we use every day, while other terms may be less familiar – including MENA (Middle East Nervous Anxiety), Freezone, and Neologism. The eclectic line-up of contributors are set to pick apart these terms through talks, debates, performances, TV clips, new publications, films, music, and more.Participants in Doha include writer-editor Charles Arsene-Henry; artists Ala Younis and Abdullah Al Mutairi; writers Elif Batuman, Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera; curators Lara Khaldi and Koyo Kouoh, and Doha-based analyst and commentator Tarik Yousef.