Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Naima Morelli
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Igniting Casablanca’s art scene: interview with Yasmine Laraqui
Born in 1989 in Casablanca, Yasmine's strength is the open-mindedness and determination typical of her generation...
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Artists get political at the 2019 Venice Biennale
The 2019 Venice Biennale has asked artists to step into the socio-political realm, in the middle of far-right Matteo Salvini’s Italy. And they have done it, dismantling Orientalism and getting the Mediterranean closer together in the process. In the current period of massive migration across the Mediterranean, the role of...
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While Europe looks at Moroccan art, Moroccan art looks at Africa
Art institutions all around the world are paying increasing attention to emerging Moroccan artists...
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Non-aggressive socio-political art at the 2019 Sharjah Biennial
The contemporary art world has flocked for the Sharjah Biennial in the past month ...
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The life and work of Palestinian Islamo-Pop artist Laila Shawa
A group of women wearing different-coloured niqabs carry ice creams that are just as colourful. Their eyes are closed as if they are about to savour the different flavours. Of course, they can’t, because their mouths are covered by cloth. This painted image is a powerful statement not only...
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Arts festival challenges Italy’s policies on migration
In previous years, the festival welcomed a variety of proposals with different content but one focus; the promotion of non-violence. ...
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Intimacy in condensed spaces: interview with Palestinian artist Rana Samara
The reason why Rana Samara is one of the most cutting-edge of Palestinian artists is because she looks at one fundamental aspect of our humanity, one which is generally overlooked when talking about the Palestinian experience: intimacy. For this artist, intimacy is not just about love and sex, but is...
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Palestine’s first female-run cookery school is ‘a labour of love’
“Today we live life in temporary slots,” Beatrice Catanzaro tells me. “Even a mother saying that she wants to have a baby thinks about it as a project. We live project to project, so we grow disconnected from reality.” The artist is one of the founders — the other is...
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Playing with sand in a sandstorm: Palestinians on Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel
Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, Palestine, opened in March 2017 ...
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The Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind: interview with artist Khalil Rabah
Indeed, the museum is nomadic, a political stance in itself....
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‘A Hair Tie’: The dark, haunting work of Syrian artist Randa Maddah
In many art colleges today, teachers are dismissive of work that is too personal. They disapprove of students inspired by the expressivity of a Munch or trying to follow in the footsteps of a Van Gogh or of any other artist able to convey their anguish by simply depicting...
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A place is where your memories are: An interview with artist Rafat Asad
According to Rafat Asad, as a Palestinian artist, you can’t avoid being political. “Every moment you live in this place is political,” he tells me. “If you want to go to a restaurant, travel to another city, whatever you do under the occupation is an act of resistance. The...
