News | Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Ruangsak Anuwatwimon and Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani on Plural Art Mag

08-06-2021

English, Interview, Published, Research, Thailand

The drill is simple, yet it’s one that we can hardly keep in mind. Don’t fool with Mother Nature. And take responsibility for your behaviour towards all species. This is what the pandemic is teaching us, and what Thai artist Ruangsak Anuwatwimon has been speaking about through more than a decade of highly impactful, heartbreaking artworks.

I have interviewed the artist and the curator Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani for the show Reincarnations III – Ecologies of Life is presently showing at Warin Lab Contemporary, Bangkok. The piece is on Plural Art Mag.

Here is the link to the article

Published! Interview with Mooza Almatrooshi on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

26-05-2021

English, Interview, Middle East, Published

“The magical realism that resonates with me the most is the religious mythology that is born out of the Arabian Peninsula,” she tells me. “Until recently, there were minimal efforts to unearth all the erasure of pre-Islamic mythologies and histories in the region. I became interested in all the negative spaces that were vacant and allowed for a re-imagined social landscape to form.”

The webmagazine Middle East Monitor has just published my interview with Emirati artist Mooza Almatrooshi.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Interview with Ruben Pang on Plural Art Mag

By: Naima Morelli

07-04-2021

Interview, Published, Singapore, Singapore Series

“Before you start painting, you’re a person in flux, multi-dimensional and colourful. You decide what characteristics you want to embody as a painter prior to entering the studio each day, ” says Ruben Pang from his studio in Sardinia, Italy.

I have interviewed the artist for Plural Art Mag for his new online solo show at Primo Marella Gallery.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Interview with Shatha Sbeta on Middle East Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

02-04-2021

Interview, Libya, North Africa, Published

Tripoli-born art entrepreneur and educator Shatha Sbeta is very clear about her objective. “I want to bring Libyan female artists and their artworks — as well as their stories — out to the world through commerce.”

My research on Libyan contemporary art continues with an interview with Shatha Sbeta for the webmagazine Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Interview with Suha Araj for MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

22-03-2021

Interview, Middle East, Published

“For me, there is always a visceral element to how I create,” tells me Suha Araj from her home in Brooklyn. “That’s why I’m always drawn to the stories of the Diaspora, because that’s where I have the most emotion. I’m interested in how people survive, and the clashes of living between two cultures.”

My interview with Palestinian-American director Suha Araj has just been published on Middle East Monitor. It was a wonderful conversation that opened up to me new learning not only about Arab cinema, but also about how one becomes a director.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Vuth Lyno at MIRAGE for Plural Art Mag

By: Naima Morelli

09-02-2021

Cambodia, English, Published, Research

I went to Cambodia for the first time in 2018, doing Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh. During my one month research trip I spoke with as many artist, curators, gallerist that I could.

Cambodia and its arts scene operated a deep transformation in my spirit, and I became very fond of the burgeoning art scene there, steadily developing despite the many difficulties.

One of the most deep, articulated conversation that I had during that time was with artist and curator Vuth Lyno. When I visited him at the art space Sa Sa BASSAC in Phnom Penh, I mostly asked him about the art community.

This time, I have interviewed him for Plural Art Mag, about it latest work Sala Samnak at Mirage Contemporary Art Space, Siem Reap.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! How a stuntwoman created a badass community during the pandemic

By: Naima Morelli

28-01-2021

English, Essay, News

MUST WATCH] Badass Staff Spinning Reel | Michelle C. Smith - YouTube

Global Comment just published a piece of mine which is a bit different from what I usually write.

It’s an article about Canada-based teacher, actor and stuntwoman Michelle Christa Smith, who showed up every day on YouTube and Instagram from the very start of the pandemic, teaching not only her signature style of staff spinning, but also resilience, consistency, and building an amazing virtual community.

I know because, of course, I practiced along!

Here is the link to the article

Published! Interview with Hind Shoufani for Middle East Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

17-12-2020

English, Interview, Middle East, News

Artist, director and poet Hind Shoufani insists that her Palestinian-ness is a political act. “It is a choice to be on this side of history,” she tells me, “whether we triumph or not, whether I carry some piece of identification paper with blue colours on it, or green colours on it, or rainbow glitter tie-dye on it.”

Middle East Monitor has just published my interview with Hind Shoufani.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Interview with Dawit L. Petros on Global Comment

By: Naima Morelli

28-11-2020

Interview, Libya, North Africa, Published, Research

Among the different research I’m currently conducting around different themes and places in contemporary art, one of the interest trail in Italian colonialism in North Africa.

I have written some pieces about Italian colonialism in Libya, and now I looked at Ethiopia and Eritrea with Eritrean-born artist Dawit L. Petros.

He has focused for over a decade on a critical re-reading of colonialism. His artworks aim for an introspective and textured analysis of the historical factors that determined migrations, and his practice always includes extensive research on the field.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Samandal, Lebanese graphic novelists collective

By: Naima Morelli

21-11-2020

English, Essay, Interview, Middle East, Published

Middle East Monitor has just published my interview with Lena Merhej, Karen Keyrouz and Barrack Rima, members of the Lebanese comics collective Samandal

Here is the link to the article

Published: Interview with Richard Hassell on Plural Art Mag

By: Naima Morelli

04-11-2020

English, Indonesia, Interview, Published, Singapore

It’s always a privilege to be able to interview cultural figures I have been admiring for a long time. Since my first inception to Singapore, I wowed at the green architecture of the firm WOHA.

Thanks to a virtual show at Gajah Gallery, I have found out WOHA’s founder Richard Hassell is also an art lover and collector. He curated the show Complex Humour highlighting works by I GAK Murniasih and Yunizar.

Both artists present humourous works overlaid with much more difficult themes, as well as tribal elements.

Here is the link to the interview