Excerpt:
The naked body in Arab art is the theme of a new Paris exhibit meant to broaden views of Arab culture, spotlighting the many artists willing to break taboos and depict nudity in all its forms.
"The Body Uncovered" at Paris' Arab World Institute aims to "challenge the stereotypes usually associated with the Arab world that reduce it to the single image of religious fanaticism," said the institute's chairman Renaud Muselier.
"It is intended instead to echo the reality of an Arab art scene that despite the conservative climate, exists, dares to overcome taboos and manages to find a place in the global contemporary art scene," he explains in the show catalogue.