421 contradicts several preconceived ideas the West might hold about the UAE art scene, often associated with large institutions projecting national ambition outward, from the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the forthcoming Guggenheim to the Sharjah Biennial. Taking another approach, 421 operates on a smaller scale, with slower timing and direct relationships with artists.
I visited 421 Art Campus and reported for ArtAsiaPacific.
In recent years, a new generation of Uzbek artists has begun to reshape how culture, history, and identity are visually narrated.
Among them is Oyjon Khayrullaeva, whose practice moves fluidly between photography, digital collage, and large-scale public installations.
I have interviewed the artist for Times of Central Asia.
Here is the link to the interview
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Born in Casablanca in 1969, Ymane Fakhir is a Franco-Moroccan artist based in Marseille. Trained at the Casablanca School of Fine Arts, the Aix-en-Provence School of Art and the Arles National School of Photography, she combines photography, video and installation to explore memory, rituals and intangible heritage.
I have interviewed the artist for the Hebdo du Quotidien de l’Art.
Here is the link to the interview (in French)
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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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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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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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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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
