A cultural and scientific symposium in Dubai hosts 'Antara in the Embrace of Modernity', an exhibition by Iraqi artist Mahmoud Shabur, featuring 31 oil-on-canvas paintings of varying sizes. The exhibition's main idea, inaugurated by Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Library's Board of Trustees Mohammed Al Murr in the presence of officials, writers, and artists, is to complete a six-year artistic project. Shabur sought inspiration from the popular and cultural heritage of Arab civilization, as well as the visual references historically created by Arab and Muslim artists since the Abbasid era, represented by artists like Yahya Al-Wasiti, and to connect this to modernity, building on the foundations laid by pioneers such as Jawad Salim. Through his works featuring the hero Antara and the heroine Abla, the artist aims to elevate Arab identity, which has enriched the world in science and culture and influenced the West through the ideas of great Arab and Muslim philosophers and thinkers. Antara is one of the Mu'allaqat poets, an invincible knight, and an unmatched lover. As he says in his verse: 'I reminded you of the time when spears were my enemies, and the horses were covered in white foam from blood. I kissed the swords because your smiling face, like a flash of lightning, was familiar to me.' All this makes Antara a worthy hero for the artist to enter the worlds of modernity, creating art that carries the meaning of identity and affirms authentic Arab social values amidst the rapid development of social media. Iraqi artist on his exhibition: 'I am not concerned with being a good painter, although that is the basis of my art studies over four decades, but what I strive for is to be a thinker in the world of fine art.'
