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Writing

Newsletters, Curatorial Statements, Exhibition Critiques/Reviews, Interviews, Artist Biographies, and Academic Articles

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This selection focuses on writing outside of SWALIF [commentary and essay contributions to both publications "Ybna Al3eid" (2023) and "Encapsualted Volume 1: Photoessays on Khaleejiness" (2021)]

The Red of Shadia’s Memories; A Conversation with AlMaha Jaralla

An interview conducted with Almaha Jaralla for her 2022 first solo shown "Shadia" at the NYUAD Project Space. This interview excavated the narrative of the paintings, explored its motifs, and included commentary by myself throughout the conversation. 

An Awfully Sweet Feeling of Overwhelmingness:

An analysis of UAE Unlimited to date

Catalogue Essay commissioned for UAE Unlimited seventh show, "Wamda: A Glimpse" (Mar 2022), a retrospective exhibition showcasing the works of UAE-based artists who have participated in previous exhibitions across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

 

Themes of re-orienting the orient, movement as meaning, a pressured in-between reality, semiotic methods of communication, bewildering and blurry consciousness, and a need to belong, develop, respectively, through the last six exhibitions of UAE Unlimited. This is accomplished by interweaving the works of emerging artists, local and international curators, established and institutionalized mentors, and the recent inclusion of academic and poetic prose, while utilizing a diversity of spaces to exhibit each collection...

Decolonizing the Shopping Mall: A Reading of Spaces within the United Arab Emirates

A reading of space has become a crucial tool in global affairs and multinational internet culture. Such a tool would allow for critiquing and dissecting unidentifiable power relations within spaces then redirecting the social production of identity and hegemony. One such discourse can be of Western cultural hegemony. The analyzed space chosen will be shopping malls in the United Arab Emirates, specifically their food courts and restaurants, as this nation is situated geographically in a non-Western region. It will be concluded that a reading of space is a crucial tool to demystify the reality of Western influence on Eastern social and cultural development, ultimately critiquing the production of such spaces in order to decolonize the region.

Exhibition Critique - Placeless Place: Engage 101 x Sarah Ahli
(Unpublished - The Foundry)

When entering Placeless Place, a warm wave of heat from the florescent overhead lighting initiates the process of bodily discomfort that the artist intended to evoke through her exploration of the body within a space. The first piece that caught my eye when walking in was “Just For Your Eyes/Forced Gestures of Intent on Memory Foam”...

Exhibition Analysis - Gut Feelings: Hayv Kahraman
(Unpublished - Mosaic Rooms)

Orange dashes in the corner remain with me as I exit 226 Cromwell Road, the sun glaring at my eyes, forcing me to look down, intimidating me, asking me to speak. But, I wonder, why did Kahraman leave those dashes? It keeps itching my brain...

To what extent will Western hegemony continue to prevail in political practice?

A critique of Acemoglu and Robinson's philosophies in Why Nations Fail

At the center of the veneration of Western hegemony is the celebration of its application of capitalism and democracy. This romanization of supposed exceptionalism must be dismantled...

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This is a text written originally in English and later translated to Spanish by the publication (eforo.org)

Medium Articles

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