Naima Morelli

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Rashed AlShashai, Brand 16, December 2023.

My piece on the light art festival Noor Riyadh has just been published on Al-Monitor.

“Standing in the middle of the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, a swarm of drones creates delicate constellations on the horizon. A virtuoso is playing the piano on a stage, complementing the 3,000-drone performance conceived by Studio Drift — an artist duo formed by Dutch artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta — called ‘Desert Swarm’.”

Here is the link to the article

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What is the role of art in times of conflict? I wrote a piece about it for Middle East Monitor, centered on the art light festival, Manar Abu Dhabi, curated by Reem Fadda and Alia Zaal Lootah from 15 November 2023. The festival runs to 30 January 2024.

Here is the link to the article

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Starting this year, Abu Dhabi is building a contemporary art scene tending to the local community, positioning itself as the main taste-maker in the discourse on the Global South in the Middle East.

I wrote a piece based on my latest trip to Abu Dhabi last month for Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the article

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From spiritual heights to the depths of the flesh, Malaysian artist Yeoh Choo Kuan has filtered the broad spectrum of human emotions and tension through the medium of abstract painting.

I have always felt a special kinship with the artwork of artist Yeoh Choo Kuan. A few years ago I wrote the texts for his monograph published by Richard Koh Fine Art, and a couple of months ago I have interviewed him for ArtAsiaPacific about his recent Singapore show.

Here is the link to the article

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I have written the curatorial text for Kazakhstan-born, Singaporean artist Inessa Kalabekova, who has an upcoming show at the East Garden Gallery, of the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore, from March 1 to March 30, 2023.

I have visited the artist’s studio during my last trip to Singapore, and learned about her art practice that fuses collage and painting. Her new show is called “The Nature of Art”, and here the artist looks at nature through the eyes of mythology and poetry.

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My interview with Vietnamese artist Trần Trọng Vũ has just been published on ArtAsiaPacific’s website.

I met the artist for his big show at A2Z gallery in Paris last October, and we did the interview half in French, half in English! Phew! It was fun, and the artist was extremely generous and kind – his work, ça va sans dire, is incredible!

Some of you know that my next cohesive research will be in Vietnam. I will spend one month there, most likely next year, so this interview adds a big piece to my understanding of art coming from the country!

Here is the link to the interview

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Finally my piece on the Venice Biennale 2022 has been published by Plural Art Mag. While the piece was written in the aftermath of the opening, it came out just now, given the webmagazine’s editorial schedule.

The article is a report, as well as an overview, and it is focused on the Southeast Asian presence, which this year was much smaller compared to previous years.

Here is the link to the piece

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Nameer Qassim, “Enough”, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 100x100 cm [Courtesy of The Palestinian Museum US]

Curated by Nancy Nesvet, head curator at the Palestine Museum in the US, the exhibition “From Palestine With Art” features 19 Palestinian artists from Palestine and across the diaspora.

“This is the strongest Palestinian presentation ever,” said Faisal Saleh, director of the Palestine Museum US. “In terms of the size, and the boldness of its pieces, it is a very significant, strong presentation. I think this is going to have a very big impact and get the Palestinian name out in a big way.”

I have reviewed the show for Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the piece

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How to talk about spiritual matters in a highly secularised, hyper-pragmatic society? This was the question artists exhibiting in the show “Pneuma: Of Spirituality in Contemporary Age” at the Stamford Art Centre in Singapore grappled with during the 2020 Singapore Art Week.

The webmagazine Qantara has just published my piece on the show.

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At the beginning of 2019 I realized one of my yearly reportages on contemporary art in Thailand. Among the most interesting artists I have interviewed is Tawatchai Puntusawasdi; our conversation has just been published on CoBo.

Here is the link to the interview

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Rome’s favourite contemporary art webmagazine, Art a Part of Culture has just published my interview with the emerging artist Leonardo Crudi. It’s written in Italian – a language I take much more fun and freedom in. So, if you can read, you’ll find it a bit gonzoish.

I greatly enjoyed the works of this young street-artist-turned-Russian-avant-garde lover, and thanks to curator Tiziano Tancredi (who curated the show together with Giovanni Argan) I manage to keep in touch with the up-and-coming scene of the city I live in (most of the times)

Here’s the link to the piece

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4emergingbattambang

The contemporary art scene in Cambodia is still very young and in the making. Distinctive stylistic trends and artistic fervour are emerging in the three major cities, creating elements for a dialogue to come.

For those looking for true solace as well as engaging conversations with artists, Battambang is definitely the place to go. Here time slows down. Artistic practice largely takes a meditative slant, and are more often than not, based on considerably traditional mediums.

I have look at the four more interesting emerging artists hailing from this Cambodian city for CoBo.

Here is the link to the article

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