Victoria Miro presents a new body of work by Idris Khan in his third solo presentation with the gallery. Beyond the Black (20 September – 9 November 2013) marks an important departure from Khan’s photographic based works and comprises a suite of large black paintings, a monumental site specific wall drawing and a series of works on paper, all of which consider the metaphysics of creativity.

Read More: New Body of Work by British Artist Idris Khan

It takes time to recover from the indignities of colonialism, to exploit its positive aspects, let go of memories of its deleterious side — or not — and blend this shifting cavalcade with celebration of one’s indigenous culture. In the case of Algerian artist Houria Niati, this process has been as complex as for anybody else, with many nuanced layers of heritage to reconcile: start with French colonialism, add Arab/Islamic, and mash it up with the Berber blood of her mother. To add to the mix, Niati has been a member of the diaspora since 1977, when she arrived in London. Since then she has built a global reputation, with numerous exhibitions and musical performances. One of the most important North African contemporary artists, she is being recognized with a major exhibition this autumn celebrating 30 years of London shows. The exhibition will showcase work from throughout her career, from oils and pastels to digital installations.

Read More: Houria Niati: Identity Search

This summer, the Tate Modern has broken new ground by giving a number of Arab, Islamic and African artists solo exhibitions in one of London’s most prestigious contemporary art spaces. One of the most eagerly anticipated exhibitions belongs to Ibrahim El-Salahi, one of Sudan’s most important artists. This major retrospective places him in a global Modernist art context; the Sudanese artist’s vision crystallized in his ability to blend Islamic, African and Western elements into a transnational, cosmopolitan whole. The show traces his personal journey across five decades of sustained creativity, his international studies, detention as a political prisoner, self-imposed exile to Qatar and current life in Oxford.

Read More: Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist

Celebrating 50 years of architectural work in India and the recent acquisition of his archive, Royal Institute of British Architects, London, is launching a new exhibition this spring – Charles Correa: Indian’s Greatest Architect. The first major UK retrospective of this living legend, the exhibition will celebrate the work of renowned Indian architect Charles Correa, is curated by Dr Irena Murray and designed by David Adjaye; it runs from May 14th until September 4th, 2013. The exhibition will accompanied by an ‘Out of India’ series of events, talks and screenings.

Read More: RIBA Acquires Charles Correa Archive

In 2010, when curators from the Tate Modern in London stepped into the Beirut home of Saloua Raouda Choucair, a Lebanese artist, they were amazed. The house and studio of the woman they would come to call “a pioneer of modernism in the Middle East” was crammed with so many sculptures that some pieces doubled as furniture. Yet hardly any of the hundreds of abstract works, in stone, wood, metal and fiberglass, along with early paintings, had ever been seen in public.

Read More: A Remarkable Rediscovery

See also: A Quest for the Essence

and: Saloua Raouda Choucair: Modernism Off the Map

and: Saloua Raouda Choucair at Tate Modern

In Paris in the late 1940s, a publicity-hungry gallerist invited a young, beautiful, unknown Lebanese artist to pose for a photograph alongside Picasso, “before death overtakes him”. Without hesitation, Saloua Raouda Choucair said, “As far as I’m concerned, he’s already dead.” Did she protest too much? Tate’s poster image for the retrospective Saloua Raouda Choucair is a classic post-cubist self-portrait.

Read More: A Quest for the Essence

See also: Saloua Raouda Choucair: Modernism Off the Map

and: Saloua Raouda Choucair at Tate Modern

In 1921, Fernand Léger painted Le Grand Déjeuner, in which three moon-faced naked women with tubular bodies, globular breasts and matching hairdos lounge about drinking tea in an opulent modern salon. Patterns play all around them; they look out at us blankly. In 1948, one of Léger’s students at his Paris atelier, the Lebanese painter and sculptor Saloua Raouda Choucair, revisited this monumental painting with a number of small gouache variations.

Read More: Saloua Raouda Choucair: Modernism Off the Map

See also: Saloua Raouda Choucair at Tate Modern

In 1940s Paris, Saloua Raouda Choucair cut a distinctive figure. A rarity as an Arab woman working independently in France, she was producing an unfamiliar kind of abstract art influenced by Islamic design that left some perplexed. Greater miscomprehension was to follow when she returned home to Lebanon in the 1950s. While in Paris, she came to win the respect of critics as an avant-garde artist who dared to call into question the Western concept of modernity. She got a far colder reception from the Lebanese art establishment.

Read More: Saloua Raouda Choucair at Tate Modern

Firmly established as one of the most prominent Arab artists working today, Safwan Dahoul will present the first series of paintings he has created since leaving Damascus for Dubai last year. This coincides with an exhibition of large-scale works by Dahoul at Edge of Arabia London from May 8th – June 15th 2013. The exhibition title, Repetitive Dreams, refers not only to the subject of Dahoul’s works, but to the enduring influence that dreams have had in his career. He first started titling his paintings Hulum, or Dream, 25 years ago and sees the process of consistently re-interpreting the theme as an artistic challenge which inspires creativity.

Read More: Safwan Dahoul at Ayyam Gallery, London

The world’s first major museum exhibition of Lebanese artist Saloua Raouda Choucair (b. 1916) has been announced for Tate Modern opening in April 2013. Comprising over 120 works, many of which have never been seen before and are being exhibited for the first time, this exhibition will bring together paintings, sculptures and other objects made by the artist over six decades, reflecting her interests in science, mathematics and Islamic art and poetry.

Read More: Saloua Raouda at Tate Modern