ABSTRACT
Contemporary art is used not only to communicate inclusivity in the larger global art community, but also as the chosen medium for the emerging states of Qatar, the UAE, and Azerbaijan to express their modern identity to a global audience. The media discourse surrounding the burgeoning art scenes in the Gulf states and Azerbaijan is used to analyze the impact of contemporary art and its connection to modern Gulf and Azerbaijani identity, and the way in which identity is telegraphed through art to both international and local audiences. The intersection of contemporary art, politics, and identity in the Gulf and Azerbaijan suggests the need for new theoretical frameworks to analyze non-Western modernities.
