During Paris Art Week I have interviewed Moroccan/Italian/French artist El Mehdi Largo, an artist plays with Orientalist perceptions. His work reveals the humanity and the sacred underlying national, religious, and ethnic differences.
Here is the link to the interview
For art lovers, there is only one way to do it all during the ever-growing list of art weeks: cloning. However, since we are not there yet, the only option seems to be a strict selection of shows to attend among the plethora of exhibitions.
In Paris last month, amid the swirl of new voices, major retrospectives and multiple art fairs across arrondissements, I chose one that allowed me to decelerate and truly see: “UMBRA,” Nika Neelova’s solo exhibition, on view through December 19 at NIKA Project Space in Komunuma.
I wrote the article for the Observer.
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I wrote a piece for ArtAsiaPacific on the Parisian art fair AsiaNow. What clearly emerges from the fair, is how the economic dynamism of the Middle East is fostering new connections between the Gulf and other thriving art scenes, from Korea to Southeast Asia.
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The art world came to Turkey in September for two high-profile events: Contemporary Istanbul and the 18th Istanbul Biennial. Against a backdrop of political crisis and growing censorship, organisers and artists found creative ways to stay relevant. I wrote the article for Qantara.
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There, Where Wings Grow opens as a multifaceted meditation on the cycles of nature, and particularly on the steppe, explored by several Central Asian artists through ecological, historical, and mythic lenses. What emerges is not a nostalgic portrait of a nomadic past but a layered reflection on resilience and renewal.
At the center of the curatorial vision is Alan Medoev, the archaeologist whose 1960s expeditions uncovered hundreds of sites across the Kazakh steppe. His discoveries challenged Soviet portrayals of the region as an empty expanse and instead presented it as a cradle of memory. The exhibition extends that lineage, tracing how the steppe continues to act as an archive where cultural, personal, and ecological time intersect.
Here is the link to the article
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In regions like Latvia, where audiences aren’t saturated with contemporary art, you don’t need cynicism or irony,” says Payam of artist collective Slavs and Tatars. “That makes it possible to present pieces that are both aesthetically strong and politically charged, and the audience receives them without the defensive distance you might find elsewhere.
I wrote the article for Observer
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Themes of memory, belonging, and identity are recurring motifs in Traboulsi’s work. Born in 1976, a year after the start of Lebanon’s civil war, her family fled the country in 1983 to the safety of Austria, her mother’s home country. But a longing for Lebanon remained.
“When my family left Beirut, we left by ferry. I watched the city slowly disappear, a thin stretch of buildings retreating on the horizon getting farther and farther across the sea.”
That image stayed with her for 13 years, inspiring the title of her photo series, Beirut, Recurring Dream. “Years later, I took that photo. It’s in my book,” she says. “It was exactly how I remembered it.”
I have interviewed the artist for Hadara.
Here is the link to the interview
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What if a spoonful of rice could heal our aching hearts? This unconventional remedy—plov, Uzbekistan’s ubiquitous rice dish—was the solution that, according to legend, philosopher and physician Ibn Sina gave to a prince unable to marry the daughter of a craftsman.
This myth inspired the theme of the inaugural Bukhara Biennial: Recipes for Broken Hearts. Running until November 20, it unfolds across the restored caravanserais, madrasas, and public courtyards of this historical city.
Curated by Los Angeles-born Diana Campbell and Dubai-based Wael Al Awar, and commissioned by Gayane Umerova for the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the event proposes a form of exhibition-making that responds to the spirit of the place: through collaboration with local artisans, the use of regional materials, and the activation of Bukhara’s architectural heritage.
I wrote the story for Hadara.
Here is the link to the article
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Private collections and individual visionaries are driving Kazakhstan’s cultural renaissance in the absence of major state investment. I wrote the story for the Observer.
Here is the link to the article
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My latest story for Times of Central Asia, is about the inauguration of the Almaty Museum of Arts, which represents a decisive step in shaping Kazakhstan’s art system.
As the country’s first large-scale contemporary art museum, it houses over 700 works collected across three decades, offering a panoramic view of modern Kazakh art while opening pathways to Central Asian and international dialogues.
Here is the link to the article
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Interior Forniture and Design Magazine has published my latest article (in Italian with an English translation), a guide to my favourite city, Marseille.
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Together, shows staged by the DEO Foundation and Perasma underscore how art can take root in unexpected places, drawing visitors beyond the well-worn circuits of cultural tourism. I wrote the piece for the Observer.
Here is the link to the article
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Naima Morelli is an arts writer and journalist specialized in contemporary art from Asia-Pacific and the MENA region.
She has written for the Financial Times, Al-Jazeera, The Art Newspaper, ArtAsiaPacific, Internazionale and Il Manifesto, among others, and she is a regular contributor to Plural Art Mag, Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye as well as writing curatorial texts for galleries.
She is the author of three books on Southeast Asian contemporary art.
Reach out: contact [at] naimamorelli.com
