mbk

So, a Jewish Texan, a Saudi Arabian, and a Palestinian start a gallery – and instead of a bad joke, we get Marhami Bookatz + Kurdi. It’s a pop up gallery that had its first show last month featuring Y Liver and run by Fa’iz Marhami (Palestinian), Karen Bookatz (Jewish), and Noel Kurdi (Saudi Arabian). Devoted to showing Israeli, Arab, Jewish, Islamic, and Persian-themed contemporary art work – and yes, all those labels need to be said – MB+K have covered their bases by simply being who they are. “As far as contentious issues in the Middle East go, put us in a room and we are the contentious issues,” said Bookatz a week after the Y Liver opening in September. Their varied background allows them to offer progressive ideas about politics, culture, and identity without audiences finding reasons to get offended.

For instance, most likely in New York you’ll find someone who’s a bit off-put by a mock newspaper with the headline: “And Now That ‘The Six Million Jews Found Alive In Argentina’ Are Mostly Dead By Now?” Which is what was passed around during Y Liver’s (Jewish Parisian) opening. But MB+K’s formula has created a safe-zone under its nomadic roof and “No one has said a word about it being offensive,” said Bookatz.

The gallery was actually created in order to show Y Liver’s work. Marhami and Kurdi both have day jobs in finance and Bookatz is a journalist. While doing some side work in art consulting, Marhami ran into Y Liver online and fell in love with his work. Marhami has a habit already of planning studio visits with artists in conjunction with his business trips abroad and planned a trip to Paris accordingly. He decided Y Liver had to be shown in New York, and while he’d somehow bargained a booth at Art Basel Miami Beach one year, he didn’t have a gallery. That’s where Kurdi and Bookatz came in. “I’m the one with the formal Masters in Art History. I was always interested in East meets West and anything crosscultural along those lines,” says Bookatz. “Noel does finance and is instrumental in finding sponsors and has Arab ties.”

Their next show is still up in the air – it could be with a Persian artist or showing Y Liver again but in Paris. Either way, it will be worth looking out for.

By Katy Donoghue

Whitewall Magazine