Darat al Funun

Darat al Funun, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, traces its story to 1988, when Khalid and Suha Shoman began an initiative to support the artists of Jordan and the Arab world. Restoration of a hillside site in Jabal al Weibdeh began in 1992 and the main building opened in 1993. Its name means 'a home for the arts' in Arabic, and it was conceived as a space that is neither a museum nor a commercial gallery.

Today it occupies six renovated houses and warehouses from the 1920s and 1930s, with a restored archaeological site in the garden. Darat presents exhibitions, talks, film screenings and workshops, runs artist residencies, a PhD fellowship and a specialised library, and cares for the Khalid Shoman Collection of more than 2,000 works. Many artists from the region had their first solo exhibition here.