This autumn, Washington, D.C. became home to a story seldom told in the United States: the rise and evolution of Arab Pop Art. At the Middle East Institute (MEI) Art Gallery, Arab Pop Art: Between East and West is on show until January 23, 2026, marking the first major U.S. exhibition dedicated to the movement. Co-curated by Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah and Lyne Sneige, the event brings together 14 artists from across the Arab world and its diaspora, presenting 35 works that fused cultural identity, satire, and global visual language.
Arab Pop Art has always existed in dialogue with Western Pop Art, borrowing its bold colours, playful irreverence, and commercial motifs. But while Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein turned Campbell’s soup cans and comic strips into cultural icons, Arab artists reimagined the idiom through their own lens, embedding Arabic script, regional patterns, and everyday objects into the visual vocabulary.
“Arab Pop Art is playful, but it is also deeply political,” explained Sneige, Director of MEI’s Arts and Culture Center. “Artists in the region have long used humour and satire to challenge social taboos and confront the West’s narrow lens on the Middle East. This show highlighted that creativity and resilience.”
The exhibition traces Arab Pop Art’s roots back to the 1960s, when Arab painters and printmakers began experimenting with mass media, advertising, and consumer culture. Yet it also showcases how the movement exploded in the digital era, amplified by social media and image-driven platforms that give artists the tools to reach audiences far beyond their immediate communities.
For Jadallah, the exhibition was not only about representation but also about expansion. “The exhibition illustrates how Arab artists not only enrich the broader Pop Art movement but make it their own,” she said. “By drawing from Arabic language, regional motifs, and cultural references, they create something both familiar and completely new. They invite us to see the Arab world through multiple lenses—historical, contemporary, local, and global.”
The result was an exhibition where Coca-Cola met Arabic calligraphy, where neon signs quoted Arab proverbs, and where global consumer brands appeared cheekily rebranded. The works entertained, but they also provoked, asking visitors to reconsider assumptions about the Arab world and its relationship with globalization.
The participating artists reflected the geographic breadth and generational diversity of Arab Pop Art. Saudi-American artist Yusef Alahmad brought a cross-cultural sensibility shaped by his time between Riyadh and the United States. Egyptian pioneer Chant Avedissian, widely recognized for his screen-printed icons of Umm Kulthum and Egyptian film stars, was represented posthumously, grounding the show in historical legacy.
Lebanon’s Marwan Chamaa and Rana Salam contributed works that toyed with nostalgia and branding, while Yemeni-American Yasmine Nasser Diaz infused personal narrative into collages and installations. Moroccan photographers Hassan Hajjaj and Mous Lamrabat, both known for their flamboyant, fashion-infused visuals, added vibrancy through their saturated portraits. From Tunisia, Ilyes Messaoudi brought hand-painted pieces merging traditional scripts with pop iconography.
Diaspora artists like Tony Khawam (Syria/US), Rasha Eleyan (Palestine/UK), and Helen Zughaib (Lebanon/US) offered perspectives shaped by displacement and belonging. Meanwhile, Qarm Qart (Egypt/Italy) and Water With Water, a Qatar-based collective founded by Nathan Ross Davis and Sarah Elawad, experimented with design, advertising tropes, and graphic media. Together, the artists painted a picture of a Middle East that is cosmopolitan, dynamic, and impossible to pin down.
While Arab Pop Art has long thrived in cities like Cairo, Beirut, Casablanca, and Marrakech, this was the first major attempt to historicize and present the movement to U.S. audiences. “It’s a story that hasn’t been told here before,” Sneige noted. “And it’s an important one, because it demonstrates how Arab artists have always been in conversation with global movements while remaining rooted in their own traditions.”
To anchor the show, MEI has organized a series of public programs. The opening week featured a VIP conversation with Khawam, Alahmad, and Zughaib alongside the curators. On September 13, the gallery joined the citywide Art All Night festival, keeping its doors open late to welcome D.C.’s art community. Throughout its run, the exhibition is accompanied by film screenings, gallery tours, and talks that contextualized Arab Pop Art within broader social and political conversations.
Both curators brought distinct expertise. Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah, an arts administrator and researcher, has developed over 40 exhibitions in the U.S., Europe, and Qatar, with a focus on diasporic and contemporary West Asian and North African artists. She currently serves as Manager of Arts and Culture for the City of Frederick, Maryland, where she oversees public art initiatives and cultural programming.
Lyne Sneige, Director of MEI’s Arts and Culture Center since 2014, has positioned the gallery as a hub for Middle Eastern art in Washington, D.C. With a career bridging policy, cultural diplomacy, and programming, Sneige has built partnerships with museums, embassies, and cultural centers to amplify Arab voices on an international stage.
Founded in 1946, the Middle East Institute is Washington’s oldest institution dedicated to the study of the Middle East. While best known as a policy think tank, its Arts & Culture Center has, in recent years, become a vital platform for cross-cultural exchange. By showcasing contemporary art, hosting conversations, and fostering partnerships, MEI creates space for Americans to encounter the Arab world beyond the headlines. Supported by the Open Mind Project and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco, Arab Pop Art: Between East and West reaffirmed MEI’s role as a bridge between East and West.
Admission to the exhibition is free, underscoring MEI’s commitment to accessibility and dialogue. Select works are also available for sale.
In presenting Arab Pop Art on U.S. soil, the exhibition asks audiences to rethink what Pop Art is, and who gets to define it. For Sneige and Jadallah, that is the true power of the show: not only to showcase vibrant visuals, but to affirm Arab identity as multifaceted, resilient, and global.
For more stories of art and culture from across MENA and the diaspora, visit our dedicated archives.
