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Sotheby’s Auction to Showcase More Than 100 Works From Middle East

Mahmoud Mokhtar's On the banks of the Nile - AAWSAT AR
Mahmoud Mokhtar's On the banks of the Nile - AAWSAT AR
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Sotheby’s Auction to Showcase More Than 100 Works From Middle East

Mahmoud Mokhtar's On the banks of the Nile - AAWSAT AR
Mahmoud Mokhtar's On the banks of the Nile - AAWSAT AR

More than 100 works of Middle Eastern art will go on sale as part of Sotheby’s upcoming 20th Century Art / Middle East online auction.

The auction includes a selection of Palestinian artworks, demonstrating the depth and of the Palestinian art scene and collective artistic discourse.

Among the most prominent of these works is Ismail Shammout’s 1972 Crucifixion, which reflects his interpretation and experience of Palestinian history. Another piece is Laila Shawa’s the Souk in Gaza, from her first solo exhibition, held in Gaza in 1965. Known for their bold colors, storytelling and depicting women in Arab society, Shawa’s early works are considered expressions of nostalgia.

For the first time, Ibrahim Noubani and Nabil Anani, among the leading figures of the contemporary art movement, take part in the auction this year.

From the Emirates, the auction includes a conceptual piece by Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim. The Sharjah Art Foundation hosted a retrospective exhibition for the artist in 2018, and he was chosen to represent the UAE at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. The auction also includes his piece Bouquet, a 2018 cardboard sculpture.

The Moroccan modernist pioneer Mohamed Melehi’s work blends a vibrant postmodern aesthetic with Moroccan Berber crafts’ cultural richness. An internationally acclaimed painting by the artist set a new record at the auction where it was sold for £399,000 as part of a Sotheby’s online auction in March. Melehi’s work is currently on display at two exhibitions, the Alserkal Avenue in Dubai and the Cromwell Place in London.

Huguette Caland, considered among Lebanon’s most influential female figures, also features her work. Her jejune impressionist works are brimming with her appetite for life and adventure. Believed to the only daughter of Bechara El Khoury, the first president of Lebanon after it gained its independence, her bold character is nonetheless captured in her work, which explores the delicate balance between the suggestive and explicit and traditionalism’s challenges to beauty and desire.

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Varieties

Indonesia's Mount Ibu Erupts More than 1,000 Times this Month

Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File
Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File
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Indonesia's Mount Ibu Erupts More than 1,000 Times this Month

Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File
Mount Ibu, on the Indonesian island of Halmahera, has erupted more than a thousand times this month. AZZAM / AFP/File

A volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted at least a thousand times this month, according to an official report Sunday as efforts were underway to evacuate thousands of villagers living near the rumbling mountain.

Mount Ibu, on the remote island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, sent a column of smoke up to four kilometers (2.5 miles) into the sky in an eruption on Wednesday, AFP said.

Indonesian officials raised its alert status to the highest level and called for the evacuation of 3,000 people living in six nearby villages.

It was one of 1,079 eruptions by the volcano recorded since January 1 by Indonesia's Geological Agency, sending columns of ash reaching between 0.3 and 4 kilometers above its peak, according to the agency's data gathered by AFP.

The latest big eruption occurred on Sunday at 1:15 am local time as it spewed a towering cloud of ash 1.5 kilometers into the air.

"The ash was grey, with moderate to thick intensity, drifting southwest. A loud rumbling sound was heard all the way to Mount Ibu Observation Post," the agency said in a statement.

It added that the volcano had erupted 17 times on Sunday alone.

Despite deciding to evacuate affected villagers, local authorities had only managed to evacuate 517 residents as of Sunday, pledging to persuade those who remained to stay in safe shelters.

Many have refused to evacuate, arguing that they were used to the situation and were in harvest season.

"There might be economic considerations, as many residents are in the middle of harvesting crops. However, we will continue to educate the community and encourage them to evacuate," said Adietya Yuni Nurtono, Ternate district military commander in charge of a safe shelter.

Mount Ibu, one of Indonesia's most active volcanos, has shown a significant increase in activity since last June.

Residents living near Mount Ibu and tourists have been advised to avoid a five- to six-kilometer exclusion zone around the volcano's peak and to wear face masks in case of falling ash.

As of 2022, around 700,000 people were living on Halmahera island, according to official data.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity as it lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Last November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-meter (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores erupted more than a dozen times in one week, killing nine people in its initial explosion.

Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province erupted more than half a dozen times last year, forcing thousands from nearby islands to evacuate.