Archives for November 2022

Published! Interview with Bashar Alhroub on Middle East Monitor

24-11-2022

The new Dubai show of Ramallah-based artist Bashar Alhroub looks at his native city Jerusalem as a place with multiple identities. “When you are in Jerusalem,” Alhroub told me, “you never feel you are in one single place. You never feel that the city is belonging to anyone, although everyone claims it as theirs.”

The artist’s new show opened on 14 November at Zawyeh Gallery in Dubai, and last until 5 January. Called “Tracing Boundaries”, the artist focuses on Jerusalem as a religious symbol, while also looking at it as a subject of pop culture. He traces the boundaries between holiness and material culture and invites the visitor to observe a fine line between spirituality and commercial clutter.

I have interviewed the artist for Middle East Monitor

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Chloe Chu on Plural Art Mag

By: Naima Morelli

11-11-2022

English, Interview, Published

We have read over and over again about the routines of our favourite artists, what time they wake up, and how much time they spend thinking about their art compared to creating works. We have seen pictures of hidden corners in their studios and learnt about their favourite brand of oil paints and their go-to factories to realise installations.

The same goes for curators. We might know the books and theories they reference, and we have become familiar with what drives art collectors. But what is definitely less explored are the joys and sorrows of being an arts writer.

That’s why here at Plural we decided to start a series where we speak with some of the most eloquent arts and culture editors from the region to explore the behind-the-scenes of being a writer.

We kick off the series with Chloe Chu, former Managing Editor at one of the most respected publications in the region and beyond: ArtAsiaPacific (AAP).

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Victoria Kosasie on ArtAsiaPacific

By: Naima Morelli

03-11-2022

English, Indonesia, Review

I have written about Indonesian emerging artist Victoria Kosasie – whose work I discovered thanks to the Bandung Contemporary Art Awards – for the November/December issue of ArtAsiaPacific.

Undoubtedly one of the most important magazines about contemporary art in Asia, writing for ArtAsiaPacific has always been a goal of mine since starting researching Southeast Asia more than 10 years ago. This is my second piece for them.

Here is the link to the piece Download

Published! Myanmar art scene came to unrest on Southeast Asia Globe

By: Naima Morelli

02-11-2022

Burma, Interview, News, Published, Reportage, Research

How a burgeoning Myanmar art scene came to sudden unrest

I wrote once again on the Myanmar art scene for the webmagazine Southeastasia Globe. It’s my first collaboration with them, and it was great to put together a piece which included a number of interviews to artists and other figures in the art world such as Chaw Ei Thein, Louis Ho, Moe Satt, Bart Was Not Here, Nathalie Johnston, Ilaria Benini and Richie Nath.

Most of them had to flee the country, but they were able gave me a picture of the developments of the art scene over the last few years, and how these were abruptly stopped by the recent military coup.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Middle Eastern presence at Paris Art Week

By: Naima Morelli

01-11-2022

Interview, Middle East, News, North Africa, North Africa, Published

Le Monnaye de Paris, ASIA NOW’s location [Naima Morelli]

With its two leading art fairs, Paris + Art Basel and ASIA NOW, as well as exhibitions scattered around the city, Paris Art Week 2022 had an extensive presence of Middle Eastern artists and galleries, and paid strong attention to the current situation in Iran.

I wrote the story for Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the article

Published! Burmese contemporary art under dictatorship on Il Manifesto

By: Naima Morelli

01-11-2022

Burma, Essay, Interview, News, Published

It always feels good to be published in Italian, and on paper as well! This is my second time to write about contemporary Southeast Asian art for the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto, and the issue I’m looking at is particularly important to highlight for the international community.

I have started to interview a number of Burmese artists who fled the country since the military coup, which happened on 1 February 2021, and other figures in the Myanmar art scene. Their experience is incredibly valuable, and while I speak with them, I also learn what was becoming of the art scene in Burma, and the incredible culture they hailed from.

This new research will take the shape of different articles on different magazines. The cover of the cultural Saturday pages of Il Manifesto, called “Alias”, was entirely dedicated to Burma, and they featured two pieces of mine.

Here is the link to the article online

Naima Morelli

Published! Interview with Bashar Alhroub on Middle East Monitor

Published! Interview with Chloe Chu on Plural Art Mag

Published! Victoria Kosasie on ArtAsiaPacific

Published! Myanmar art scene came to unrest on Southeast Asia Globe

Published! Middle Eastern presence at Paris Art Week

Published! Burmese contemporary art under dictatorship on Il Manifesto

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