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Digital Booklet: “Taking Shape” NYU Student Writing Prize Winners

We are pleased to present a digital booklet featuring the six winning entries for the Taking Shape NYU Student Writing Prize competitions, which took place in fall 2020.

Prizes were awarded for the best essay or poem written by an NYU undergraduate and graduate student in response to the Grey Art Gallery’s exhibition Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s (January 14–March 13, 2020), drawn from the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE. The show was forced to close early due to COVID-19, and entrants worked from the full suite of images, gallery labels, and other resources available on the Grey’s website. The contest judge was Lucy Oakley, former Head of Education and Programs at the Grey.

View the booklet.

Cover of a digital booklet showing an abstract painting with the text "TAKING SHAPE" and "NYU STUDENT WRITING PRIZE."

The booklet is published in conjunction with the exhibition Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s, which was organized by the Grey Art Gallery, New York University, and curated by Suheyla Takesh and Lynn Gumpert. Designed by Clint McLean. Produced by the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE. Unless otherwise noted, texts copyright © the individual authors.

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