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.
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I wrote a piece for The Markaz Review, wondering whether curators who organize international exhibitions and develop books aren’t in fact public intellectuals. With interviews to @roseissaprojects @punkorientalism @farah.abushullaih
“Contrary to popular belief, it remains true that the specter of the intellectual still haunts the art world. The only thing that has changed is the mask they now hide behind — that of ‘curator.’ The current dislike of the word intellectual runs just as deep as our love for the word “curator.” ‘
![Team photo from left to right:
Amélie Kalafat (Artistic assistant)
Clara Alabed Alnaef, (Partnership & communication),Joanna Chevalier (Artistic director), Laure d’Hauteville (Founder & fair director), Tara El Khoury Mikhaël (Gallery relations), Léonie Racy (Scenographer), Camelia Esmaili, (Special Project Advisor) [@Irenederosen]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2%C2%B0-equipe-menart-fair-2023-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C798&ssl=1)
The successful Menart Fair, that has just concluded in Paris, is showing how artists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are leading the conversation, while also opening up new perspectives in the European cultural arena.
I wrote the piece for Middle East Monitor
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Fruits weave together ancestral longing, anchoring us to home. ‘Double Blessings’ is an exhibition in Chicago that explore this concept through the work four artists who are connected to Palestine. Their art tells stories of consumption and lineage, with food as a common but diverse language.
I have interviewed Noel Maghathe, the curator of the show, for The New Arab.
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With the new art space Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem, Palestinian architects Elias and Yousef Anastas,are recovering, treasuring and expanding the genius loci of the West Bank.
The kind of impact that the art space is hoping to have is twofold: encouraging the Palestinian art scene to grow beyond Ramallah, while also attracting creatives from around the world to Bethlehem.
I have interview them for Middle East Monitor.
Duty and care are the words that would best describe the approach of Dr Adila Laidi-Hanieh towards the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit.
She is stepping down as director of the museum at the end of this month, and she reflected on her years in charge, changing the institution from the inside out. I have interviewed her for Middle East Monitor
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I have interviewed independent researcher, curator and artist Adam HajYahia for Al-Monitor.
Adam’s exploration of structural and hierarchical violence and its intersections with capitalist, colonial, sexual and social dynamics took material shape recently in an exhibition called “Carnal Politics: Sex, Desire and Anti-Colonial Deviance in Mandate Palestine.”
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My latest piece about Nabil Anani’s new show, currently at Zawyeh Gallery, just came out for The New Arab.
Nabil is one of the founders of the contemporary Palestinian art movement. His works highlight Palestine’s folkloric culture and seek to foster national pride beyond Israel’s 75-year occupation.
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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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My latest piece for Middle East Monitor is titled: “Saudi artist Hawazin Alotaibi rethinks gender norms and masculinity in the Gulf.”
It’s a piece of art criticism about this young artist, who doesn’t sheer away from using image distortion and experimental printing processes in order to create portrayals of male figures that contend with evolving conceptions of Arab masculinity.
![Works by Zeinab Saab as part of A thought is a memory, curated by Noel Maghathe. Presented by CUE Art Foundation, 2023 [Photo by Filip Wolak]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/My-project-1-5.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
My latest piece for Middle East Monitor is about a collective show at CUE Art Foundation in New York reflecting on the hybrid identities of Arab Americans.
Called “A thought is a memory”, the show is curated by Noel Maghathe and runs until 13 May.
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The exhibition “Hijrah: In the Footsteps of the Prophet” and the documentary “In the Footsteps of the Beloved” are embracing historical and scientific evidence, signalling a change in Saudi Arabia. I wrote about it for Middle East Monitor.
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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
