Woodman Taylor collection
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Abstract
Printed material related to art exhibitions, art organizations, and related activities, in the United Arab Emirates, collected by educator and art historian Woodman Taylor. Includes exhibition catalogs, exhibition guides and maps, brochures, and issues of serial publications.
Biographical note
Woodman Taylor is an art historian and curator who specializes in South Asian and Islamic art. He lived in the United Arab Emirates from 2012-2020, and during that time served on the faculty of the American University of Dubai from 2012 to 2018, as a professor of art history, as well as chairing the Department of Visual Communication. From 2018-2020, he served as a consultant on several projects, including at Zayed University and New York University Abu Dhabi.
While in the UAE, he took an active interest in the local art scene, and developed an expertise and interest in photography that led him to co-found the journal "Tribe: Photography and New Media from the Arab World," published in Dubai.
Prior to his work in the UAE, Taylor served on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago as an assistant professor of art history (1996-2006), as assistant curator for South Asian and Islamic art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (2006-2008), and director of development for the South-East Asia Center in Chicago (2008-2012), among other positions.
Taylor earned a bachelors degree in Asian history and ethnomusicology from Wesleyan College, a masters in information science from Simmons College in Boston, and a masters and doctorate in art history from the University of Chicago.
Arrangement
In most series, the arrangement is chronological by date of art exhibition.
Content Description
The Woodman Taylor collection consists of printed material related to art exhibitions, art organizations, and related activities, in the United Arab Emirates, collected by educator and art historian Woodman Taylor. The collection includes exhibition catalogs, exhibition guides and maps, brochures, and issues of serial publications.
Most of the material in this collection was acquired by Taylor while he lived and worked in the United Arab Emirates from 2012-2020. While not meant to be a comprhensive collection, it nevertheless provides a glimpse of the vibrant arts scene during that time, as experienced by Taylor through exhibitions at museums and galleries, and other arts-related events that he attended.
Representation is particularly strong for exhibitions hosted by the Sharjah Arts Foundation, but also includes materials from other arts organizations based in Sharjah, such as the Maraya Art Centre and Barjeel Foundation. Also represented are several galleries from Dubai's Alserkal Avenue, along with other events and venues in Dubai. In addition, a few venues in Abu Dhabi are included as well, including the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery and Zayed University.
Most of the exhibition catalogs, booklets, and maps are bilingual, printed in both Arabic and English.
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Conditions governing access
The collection is open for use in the Reading Room of the Archives and Special Collections department of the NYU Abu Dhabi Library.
Conditions governing use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred citation
Identification of item, date; Woodman Taylor collection; MC.079; box number; folder number or item identifier; Archives and Special Collections, New York University Abu Dhabi Library.
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of Woodman Taylor, 2019-2020.
Separated materials
Several exhibition catalogs and other publications have been cataloged separately, and are searchable in the library catalog of New York University Abu Dhabi.
About this Guide
Processing information
Processed by Brad Bauer, May 2021.