Call for feedback! Women art enthusiasts in the Gulf

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Call for participation: women art enthuasiasts in the Arab Gulf

I am starting research on the phenomenon of women-only viewings at art fairs and museums in the Arab Gulf. If you attend or enjoy art events in the Gulf, I'd like to speak with you. We can communicate via email in Arabic or English, or via Skype or G-Chat in English - unfortunately I am not funded to travel to the Gulf to meet in person. I am happy to protect your privacy in any way you wish.

Below are the kinds of questions I'd like to get a variety of answers to:
What do you think about women-only viewings?
Are they helpful? Does it encourage or discourage you from attending exhibitions? Would you attend if women-only viewings were not scheduled? Do you attend the exhibitions during non-restricted hours?
How do you respond to the idea that women-only events are a “regional custom”? What is your interpretation of this phenomenon? Why do you think it is happening, what do you think is the cause?

I don't have an argument I want to make from your feedback or an agenda, but am generally interested in understanding how different people respond to this occurrence. Please find me at eaharrington at gmail or beth_slnanthro on Twitter; you're also welcome to leave a comment on this blog with a way to get in touch with you.


Abstract:
Viewings for Women Only: The Creation of Homosocial Space through Art Exhibitions in the Arab Gulf

When the new Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi held an initial exhibition of Picasso in 2008, organizers elected to schedule regular viewings restricted to women. The press statement noted that this is a "regional custom to allow women to socialize - and that its inclusion in the retrospective's schedule was meant as a peace offering to the community."
My paper explores the creation of homosocial spaces and their intersection with art, museums, and global politics. I examine the ways in which certain works of art are perceived to be problematic or sexual when viewed in mixed gender settings, and what this solution says about constructions and elicitations of desire. Same-sex settings are seen as neutralizing potentially inflammatory works - does this mean that works are perceived as dangerous not for their inherent content but in their moment and space of their witnessing? Thus, I explore the varying and shifting legibilities of works when they are framed and viewed in different spaces and constructs.
I argue this event demonstrates an attempt by the exhibition organizers, who have links to the Emirati government, to embed museum-going and art viewing behaviors within what Bourdieu would consider the habitus, customs perceived to be established and comfortable for local women. Interviews with Gulf female art visitors and examining other women-only activities for socializing helps to more fully contextualize this practice. This research explores this instance of female homosocial space in relation to similar phenomena in other communities, such as the Aboriginal Australian community, that restrict and divide viewings of art works by gender, drawing on the work of Fred Myers; it also explores the ways that art has previously created homosocial spaces and opened the topic of same-sex desire in Qajar art.