Etel Adnan Solo Show

The first solo exhibition in France by poet, writer and visual artist Etel Adnan. The exhibition is divided into four sections, exploring different facets of the artist’s work.

The first centres on The Arab Apocalypse (1980), a work of poetry by Adnan. Visitors are immersed in a multilingual soundscape, made up of recordings of the work being read in French, English and Arabic.

Another section ‘Mount Tamalpais’, is devoted to the mountain in California which Adnan returns to in numerous paintings and drawings. This section, along with another titled ‘Des ponts, des exils’ highlights the centrality of the artist’s travels in her work, as well as the recurring images of bridges.

The final section ‘Un monde de couleurs et de sonorités’ features examples of the tapestry works which Adnan has produced since the 1960s, as well as leporellos – miniature concertina books filled by the artist with paintings, drawings and writing,

The Institut du Monde Arabe was founded in Paris in 1980 by 18 Arab countries, along with France, to research and disseminate information about the Arab world.