Interview | Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Nika Neelova for Observer

07-11-2025

A conical sculpture made of interwoven golden-brown sticks stands on a clear acrylic base in a minimalist gallery, with another artwork hanging on the wall behind it.

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.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Contemporary Istanbul and the Biennale for Qantara

By: Naima Morelli

01-11-2025

English, Essay, Interview, Middle East, News, Published, Reportage, Research

Zwei Personen stehen in einem Korridor, mit dem Rücken zueinander, und betrachten Gemälde, die an den Wänden hängen.

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.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Contemporary Art in the Baltics for Observer

By: Naima Morelli

13-10-2025

Collection, English, Europe, Europe, Interview, News, Published, Reportage

An installation in a raw concrete industrial space displays several large video screens showing people lying in bed, arranged down a long, dimly lit corridor.

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

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Tanya Trabulsi for Hadara

By: Naima Morelli

07-10-2025

English, Interview, Middle East, Published, Research

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

Published! Almaty Museum of Arts on Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

18-09-2025

Central Asia, English, Essay, Interview, News, Published

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

Published! Helsinki Biennale Review on IFDM

By: Naima Morelli

18-07-2025

Europe, Interview, Italiano, News, Published

Helsinki Biennial - Photo © Matti Pyykko

Another review of the Helsinki Biennial (in Italian with a English translation) for IFDM, sharing some more thoughts and analysis to share on a very interesting art event.

Here is the link to the article

Published! Cleopatra at the Paris Arab World Institute exhibition for The New Arab

By: Naima Morelli

14-07-2025

English, Interview, Middle East, News, North Africa, Published

There are historical characters that are no longer themselves. They become archetypes and symbols for us to project upon. Cleopatra is one such character.

The Mystery of Cleopatra, a newly opened exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, investigates this very aspect of the Egyptian queen.

Drawing on historical sources that retrace who Cleopatra was, the exhibition examines what she has been made to represent — and how her story might now be told differently.

I interviewed the exhibition’s curator for The New Arab.

Here is the link to the article

Published! VIMA art fair in Cyprus for Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

30-05-2025

Central Asia, Interview, Middle East, News, Published

In the art world, fairs often have a meteoric rise and fall in an oversaturated market of competing events. But every so often, one lands with a quiet, deliberate weight, embedding itself in the soil of its context and revitalizing it. Vima in Limassol, Cyprus, is one such project.

Unfolding in a transformed wine warehouse near the sea, VIMA resisted the sterile polish of typical fair venues. Here, the Mediterranean wind mingled with the hum of languages, from Russian to Arabic, Greek, and Turkish, to English.

The fair was founded by three Russians who have established themselves in Cyprus – Edgar Gadzhiev, Lara Kotreleva, and Nadezhda Zinovskaya – all of whom have brought a deep well of curatorial and institutional experience from Central Asia, Eurasia, and beyond.

I have interviewed the three founders for Times of Central Asia.

Here is the link to the article

Published! Uzbekistan at the 2025 Venice Biennale at Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

25-03-2025

Central Asia, Interview, Italy, Published

Is it possible to preserve architectural heritage while working towards sustainability? And what to make of the architectural relics of the past century? Can they somehow take on new meaning rather than remaining a representation of dystopias and utopias of the past?

All these questions and more are addressed by the Uzbekistan Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Running alternate years with the Art Biennale, this is undoubtedly one of the most important architectural events in the international arena.

I have interviewed Ekaterina Golovatyuk of Studio GRACE, the architectural film that curated the Uzebek Pavillion. The piece is for Times of Central Asia.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Q&A with Sara Raza director of CCA Tashkent

By: Naima Morelli

10-03-2025

Central Asia, Interview, News, Published

Sara Raza is a litmus test for the spirit of the times in the shape of an art curator. In simple terms, art crowds can count on her direction for the Tashkent Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) to bring the most pressing issues in contemporary art to the foreground.

Indeed, the author of the book Punk Orientalism – and the namesake curatorial studio – has been just appointed as Artistic Director and Chief Curatorial Director of the CCA Tashkent, set to open in September 2025.

It’s a strategic move for the Centre, which has aspirations of becoming a global arts and culture hub and is aiming at international artistic and creative exchanges, which include residencies, exhibitions, workshops, and educational programmes, and contributing to Uzbekistan’s cultural ecosystem.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Simurgh Self-Help by Slavs and Tatars’ on Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

21-02-2025

Central Asia, English, Interview, Published

The mythological figure of the Simurgh is the focus of Slavs and Tatars’ latest show at the gallery The Third Line in Dubai called “Simurgh Self-Help”.

The show speaks of the importance of reclaiming and reframing cultural memories in a fractured world, and an invitation to think beyond the artificial, top-down confines of nationalism, to find cultural unity.

I have interview Payam, one half of Slav and Tatars, for The Times of Central Asia.

Here is the link to te piece

Published! The contemporary art fair 1/54 Marrakech on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

06-02-2025

Interview, North Africa, Published, Reportage, Research, Visit

1-54 Marrakech 2025. [Courtesy Mohamed Lakhdar]

Small but well-curated, the 1/54 art fair in Marrakech aims to be the gateway for African art, while fostering the local Moroccan art scene. I have reported on the event for Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the article

Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Nika Neelova for Observer

Published! Contemporary Istanbul and the Biennale for Qantara

Published! Contemporary Art in the Baltics for Observer

Published! Interview with Tanya Trabulsi for Hadara

Published! Almaty Museum of Arts on Times of Central Asia

Published! Helsinki Biennale Review on IFDM

Published! Cleopatra at the Paris Arab World Institute exhibition for The New Arab

Published! VIMA art fair in Cyprus for Times of Central Asia

Published! Uzbekistan at the 2025 Venice Biennale at Times of Central Asia

Published! Q&A with Sara Raza director of CCA Tashkent

Published! Simurgh Self-Help by Slavs and Tatars’ on Times of Central Asia

Published! The contemporary art fair 1/54 Marrakech on MEMO

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