Visit the MEI Art Gallery

The MEI Art Gallery is open to the public weekdays from 10am to 5pm (closed for federal holidays). Visitors are encouraged to register for a timed visit at the link below, but walk-ins are also welcome.

Book a visit

Opening Soon

ARAB POP ART

Between East and West

September 12, 2025 - January 23, 2026

Co-curated by Laila Abdul-Hadi Jadallah & Lyne Sneige

 

Hassan Hajjaj Omar Offendum, (2013). Courtesy of the artist and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
Hassan Hajjaj Omar Offendum, (2013). Courtesy of the artist and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.

The MEI Art Gallery is pleased to announce Arab Pop Art: Between East and West, opening to the public on Friday, September 12.  MEI’s latest exhibition explores the evolution of an art movement that blends Arab cultural motifs and symbols with the visual language of Western Pop art. Emerging in the 1960s, Arab pop art exploded with the rise of social media and new digital technologies in the 2000s. Today, Arab pop artists harness creativity, satire, and a savvy awareness of street culture to comment on social and political issues in the Middle East, while also challenging regional stereotypes.

​​​Participating artists: Yusef Alahmad (Saudi Arabia/US), Chant Avedissian (Egypt), Marwan Chamaa (Lebanon/US), Yasmine Nasser Diaz (Yemen/US), Rasha Eleyan (Palestine/UK), Hassan Hajjaj (Morocco), Tony Khawam (Syria/US), Mous Lamrabat (Morocco), Ilyes Messoudi (Tunisia), Qarm Qart (Egypt/Italy), Rana Salam (Lebanon), Water With Water (Nathan Ross Davis & Sarah Elawad, Qatar), Helen Zughaib (Lebanon/US).

Select artworks will be available for sale.

Lead sponsorship by the Open Mind Project, additional support provided by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Washington, D.C.

Open Mind logoEmbassy of Morocco
 

 

Book appointment to visit in person

Maximal Miniatures

Contemporary Art from Iran

Closing August 22, 2025

Curated by Donna Honarpisheh

Maximal Miniatures features the work of 13 leading contemporary Iranian artists who reimagine the rich visual tradition of the Persian miniature genre through inventive formal techniques, including experimentations with scale, color, composition, figuration, and abstraction. 

Book appointment to visit in person

Photo: Farah Ossouli. David and I (2), 2014. Gouache on cardboard. 75 x 110 cm

MEI Art Gallery Exhibitions
Aug 04, 2025
Jan 21, 2025
Apr 03, 2024
Nov 09, 2023
Jun 05, 2023
Dec 14, 2022

Mission

The MEI Art Gallery is a unique platform in the nation’s capital dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary and modern art, photography, and video from the region. Located in the Dupont Circle area, close to museums, galleries and think tanks, the MEI Art Gallery promotes the work of the most exciting artists emerging from the Middle East and its diaspora in Washington and beyond. In line with MEI’s overall mission ‘to increase knowledge of the Middle East among citizens of the United States and to promote a better understanding between the people of these two areas,' the MEI Art Gallery seeks to: 

  1. Showcase the very best in contemporary and modern art, photography and video from Morocco to Afghanistan

  2. Provide a hub for dialogue about the role of the arts in society and ways U.S. audiences can better engage with artists to support the region’s arts, culture and heritage sectors

  3. Connect Middle Eastern artists with Washington’s art, culture and policy circles to facilitate partnerships and training opportunities

  4. Amplify the importance of the arts of the Middle East though panel talks, film screenings and educational workshops