Naima Morelli

Published! Gwangju and Busan Biennales on Il Manifesto

12-10-2024

Reporting from South Korea. My article on the Gwangju Biennale and the Busan Biennale is on Il manifesto, with a little extra: an interview with Nicolas Bourriaud, curator of the Gwangju Biennale.

It has been really cool to report on most of my recent trips to Asia this year for Il Manifesto – It has become a little tradition of sorts: picking up on Saturday the art supplements of the newspaper, get to my “third place” Zazie and read the issue in front of a steamy cappuccino.

Here is the link to the articles (in Italian)

Published! Interview with Dina Mimi on Middle East Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

08-10-2024

Interview, Middle East, Published

I have realized an interview with Palestinian artist Dina Mimi for Middle East Monitor. A compelling voice in the contemporary art scene, Dina Mimi’s work incorporates video, sound, performance and text to investigate the physicality of resistance in Palestine.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Arab pavillions at the Venice Biennale on Hadara

By: Naima Morelli

02-10-2024

Italy, Middle East, News, North Africa, Published, Reportage

Being a foreigner is more than a state of mind. It is a state of the soul. The foreigner’s journey can be painful or enriching. Often it is both, as illustrated by a number of Arab artists at the 60th International Art Exhibition in Venice, which continues through November 24.

Stranieri Ovunque, or Foreigners Everywhere, the theme of the Biennale chosen by curator Adriano Pedrosa, subverts the linear Western art trajectory by bringing outsider narratives to the forefront. The theme allows for explorations of identity, ethnicity, gender and belonging.

Published! Interview with Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan for Hadara

By: Naima Morelli

02-10-2024

Interview, Middle East, Published, Research

“Forty-five minutes before the preview opening of the Venice Biennale in April, there was already a long line of sleepy people waiting at the Arsenale. Half were elegantly dressed Arab women.

When Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan showed up a few minutes later with a big red smile, she was greeted by a peal of excited squeals. The line scattered, and the artist was cocooned for a group selfie. “They are Manal’s cousins,” explained an amused man in the line.

Most of these women have never been to the Venice Biennale before. It was AlDowayan’s participation that drew them. This was a chance to root for their heroine while enjoying what in Saudi Arabia has become the chicest of activities: art appreciation.”

My second piece interview with Manal has been published on the Saudi Magazine Hadara.

Here is the link to the interview

Curatorial Text: Desmond Mah’s Twisted Bodies tell their tales

By: Naima Morelli

27-09-2024

Australia, Essay, Singapore

I have written a text for Desmond Mah’s exhibition “Twisted Bodies Tell Their Tales,” from 16th October to 9th November, 2024. The show is part of the 2nd Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 and will take place at Mossenson Galleries, Western Australia.

Find the complete text below

Published! Interview with Randa Mirza on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

19-09-2024

Essay, Interview, News, Published

Image part of Randa Mirza parallel Universes series [Randa Mirza]

Over two decades, Mirza has built a body of work that spans different mediums, although photography is her chosen tool for chronicling the ever-shifting landscape of Beirut. Her home city, with its complex post-war realities and the resilience of its people, is at the core of her most recent exhibition “BEIRUTOPIA” at the Rencontre D’Arles festival.

I spoke with the artist in Marseille for Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Korea MZ collectors for the Financial Times

By: Naima Morelli

31-08-2024

Collection, Essay, Published, Reportage, Research

My new article for the Financia Times is about a new breed of Korean collectors, the so-called Generation MZ, a terms tha stands for millennials and Gen-Z.

They are focused on works under $50,000, either buying with family money or their own entrepreneurial cash, including at the upcoming Frieze and Kiaf fairs.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Kazakh Artist Gulnur Mukazhanova for Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

17-08-2024

Central Asia, Interview, Published, Research

Born in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, shortly before the end of the USSR, artist Gulnur Mukazhanovahas been working with textiles since beginning her practice, and influenced by Kazakh traditions, employs felt as a primary material.

Spiritual and emotional, her abstractions are informed by issues concerning identity and the transformation of traditional values of her native culture in the age of globalization.

I have interviewed the artist for The Times of Central Asia

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Italian colonial architecture in Libya on Al-Jazeera

By: Naima Morelli

13-07-2024

Essay, Interview, Libya, News, North Africa, Reportage

I have been interested in Libyan art, culture, and literature – as well as its relationship with its Italian colonial past – for a few years now. And every time I look at this country through a different facet, there is so much to discover.

This time I looked at the erasure of the colonial architectural heritage in Benghazi and Tripoli, gathering different viewpoints from Libyans, and their memories attached to these buildings.

I wrote the story for Al-Jazeera, with the title “Cultural treasure or painful reminder? Libya’s colonial architecture.”

Here is the link to the article

Published! Interview with Aspan Gallery on Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

11-07-2024

Central Asia, Interview, Published

My latest piece for the Times of Central Asia is entitled “Almaty’s Aspan Gallery Champions Central Asian Art at Home and Abroad.” For this article, I have interview Aspan Gallery’s director Meruyert Kaliyeva.

Here is the link to the interview

Published: Bouchra Kalili on Middle East Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

10-07-2024

English, Essay, News, North Africa, Published

In her work, currently on show both in Athens and at the Venice Biennale, Moroccan Artist Bouchra Khalili highlights the power of storytelling for the disenfranchised subjects of history.

Here is the link to the article

Published! Kazakhstan’s Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for The Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

12-06-2024

Central Asia, Interview, News, Published, Research, Visit

The Kazakh pavilion “Jerūiyq: Journey Beyond the Horizon” at the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, from April 20 to November 24, represents a major milestone in changing perceptions of Kazakh art.

Staged in the Naval Historical Museum, the exhibition reinterprets the ancient legend of Jerūiyq, drawing inspiration from Kazakh myths and the visionary journey of the 15th-century philosopher Asan Kaigy.

I have interviewed the Pavillion’s curator Anvar Musrepov for The Times of Central Asia.

Here is the link to the interview

Naima Morelli

Published! Gwangju and Busan Biennales on Il Manifesto

Published! Interview with Dina Mimi on Middle East Monitor

Published! Arab pavillions at the Venice Biennale on Hadara

Published! Interview with Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan for Hadara

Curatorial Text: Desmond Mah’s Twisted Bodies tell their tales

Published! Interview with Randa Mirza on MEMO

Published! Korea MZ collectors for the Financial Times

Published! Interview with Kazakh Artist Gulnur Mukazhanova for Times of Central Asia

Published! Italian colonial architecture in Libya on Al-Jazeera

Published! Interview with Aspan Gallery on Times of Central Asia

Published: Bouchra Kalili on Middle East Monitor

Published! Kazakhstan’s Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for The Times of Central Asia

About

MY BOOKS

Categories

Archives