Interview | Naima Morelli

Published! Uzbekistan at the 2025 Venice Biennale at Times of Central Asia

25-03-2025

Central Asia, Interview, Italy, Published

Is it possible to preserve architectural heritage while working towards sustainability? And what to make of the architectural relics of the past century? Can they somehow take on new meaning rather than remaining a representation of dystopias and utopias of the past?

All these questions and more are addressed by the Uzbekistan Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Running alternate years with the Art Biennale, this is undoubtedly one of the most important architectural events in the international arena.

I have interviewed Ekaterina Golovatyuk of Studio GRACE, the architectural film that curated the Uzebek Pavillion. The piece is for Times of Central Asia.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Q&A with Sara Raza director of CCA Tashkent

By: Naima Morelli

10-03-2025

Central Asia, Interview, News, Published

Sara Raza is a litmus test for the spirit of the times in the shape of an art curator. In simple terms, art crowds can count on her direction for the Tashkent Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) to bring the most pressing issues in contemporary art to the foreground.

Indeed, the author of the book Punk Orientalism – and the namesake curatorial studio – has been just appointed as Artistic Director and Chief Curatorial Director of the CCA Tashkent, set to open in September 2025.

It’s a strategic move for the Centre, which has aspirations of becoming a global arts and culture hub and is aiming at international artistic and creative exchanges, which include residencies, exhibitions, workshops, and educational programmes, and contributing to Uzbekistan’s cultural ecosystem.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Simurgh Self-Help by Slavs and Tatars’ on Times of Central Asia

By: Naima Morelli

21-02-2025

Central Asia, English, Interview, Published

The mythological figure of the Simurgh is the focus of Slavs and Tatars’ latest show at the gallery The Third Line in Dubai called “Simurgh Self-Help”.

The show speaks of the importance of reclaiming and reframing cultural memories in a fractured world, and an invitation to think beyond the artificial, top-down confines of nationalism, to find cultural unity.

I have interview Payam, one half of Slav and Tatars, for The Times of Central Asia.

Here is the link to te piece

Published! The contemporary art fair 1/54 Marrakech on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

06-02-2025

Interview, North Africa, Published, Reportage, Research, Visit

1-54 Marrakech 2025. [Courtesy Mohamed Lakhdar]

Small but well-curated, the 1/54 art fair in Marrakech aims to be the gateway for African art, while fostering the local Moroccan art scene. I have reported on the event for Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the article

Published!Nadia Saikali and Beirut as the centre of abstract art on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

03-02-2025

Interview, Middle East, News, Published

Nadia Saikali and Her Contemporaries show at Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah

The show “Nadia Saikali and Her Contemporaries” at Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah until 2 August is dedicated to pioneering abstract artist Saikali, and the influence that she had on modernism in the Arab world and beyond.

This is the first of two pieces which I have written of the show, and has been just published by Middle East Monitor.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Central Asian artists in Doha

By: Naima Morelli

24-01-2025

Essay, Interview, News, Published

The show “I Swear I Saw That” interrogates Jean-Leon Gerome’s way of seeing, which Sara Raza recognizes as a “fantastical and highly mythologized vision of the East,” and looks at how artists from both the Middle East, the Arab world and Central Asia fought back.

A Central Asia and Caucasus expert who works extensively in the Middle East, Raza has examined the process of the exoticization of Eastern populations for a long time. She coined the term “Punk Orientalism,” which also became the name of her book and curatorial studio.

I wrote the article for Times of Central Asia.

Here is the link to the article

Published: The Rise of the Indonesian Contemporary Art Market for The Observer

By: Naima Morelli

11-01-2025

English, Indonesia, Interview, News, Published, Research

There is no doubt that the Indonesian art market is one of the strongest in Southeast Asia. At art fairs all over Asia and Europe, we see an increasing number of big-name artists and collectors hailing from the art capitals of Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Bandung. Private museums, galleries and studios are cropping up across the vast archipelago.

I have interviewed Indonesian art collectors Andonowati and Wiyu Wahono, as well as Tom Tandio, director of Art Jakarta, to take the pulse of the market for The Observer.

Here is the link to the article

Published! Interview with Massinissa Selmani on FLAUNT

By: Naima Morelli

11-12-2024

English, Interview, News, North Africa, Published, Reportage, Research, United States, Visit

We really don’t want to hear yet another mouth uttering the old and weary truism: “In order to know where we are going, we need to know where we come from.”

But can we even look at Massinissa Selmani’s videos, drawings, and photos in his exhibition 1000 VILLAGES—dedicated to the story of his own country Algeria and currently on exhibition at Index Foundation in Stockholm—without having this truism resounding in our ears like blaring evidence? We might as well cover our mouths.

I have spoken with the artist for FLAUNT Magazine.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Interview with Mirna Bamieh on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

21-11-2024

Interview, Middle East

My interview with Palestinian artist Mirna Bamieh has been published by Middle East Monitor.

“In the past few months I have been making, just making, making, making those pieces and trying to translate emotions into colours and glazes and firing them and creating this alchemy of understanding around them,” she explained. Her move to Lisbon, added Mirna, is a welcome pause from producing so much work.

However, one conviction resonates very strongly with her; whether in a commercial context like the fair, an experimental gallery like Nika, or an institution like Shanghai: she believes in the meaning of standing up for what’s right. “As a Palestinian, all my life I was told that my voice is not important,” she concluded. “But it is. It is very important. It is very important to speak up.”

Here is the link to the interview

Published! The Radicants at Asia Now for The Art Newspaper France

By: Naima Morelli

26-10-2024

Essay, France, Interview, News, Published, Research, Visit

We’ve all heard the joke about art lovers who don’t necessarily celebrate Christmas and Easter, but they definitely celebrate Frieze and Art Basel. This ritualistic aspect of the art world hasn’t escaped Asia NOW, whose tenth anniversary show is aptly titled ‘Ceremony’.

Guided by the ethos of positioning itself not just as another art fair, but as a curated platform presenting Asia to a European audience, Asia NOW has chosen the artistic direction of Radicants, the curatorial cooperative founded by Nicolas Bourriaud, for its main exhibition.

I have written about it for The Art Newspaper France.

Here is the link to the article

Published! Mehdi Qotbi at Institute du Monde Arabe for The New Arab

By: Naima Morelli

26-10-2024

Interview, News, North Africa, Published, Research

I spoke with Moroccan artist Mehdi Qotbi who found his passion almost by chance and now, after 50 years, is being celebrated in a major exhibition in Paris at l’Institute du Monde Arabe. The piece has been published by The New Arab.

Here is the link to the interview

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

Naima Morelli

Published! Uzbekistan at the 2025 Venice Biennale at Times of Central Asia

Published! Q&A with Sara Raza director of CCA Tashkent

Published! Simurgh Self-Help by Slavs and Tatars’ on Times of Central Asia

Published! The contemporary art fair 1/54 Marrakech on MEMO

Published!Nadia Saikali and Beirut as the centre of abstract art on MEMO

Published! Central Asian artists in Doha

Published: The Rise of the Indonesian Contemporary Art Market for The Observer

Published! Interview with Massinissa Selmani on FLAUNT

Published! Interview with Mirna Bamieh on MEMO

Published! The Radicants at Asia Now for The Art Newspaper France

Published! Mehdi Qotbi at Institute du Monde Arabe for The New Arab

Published! Interview with Dina Mimi on Middle East Monitor

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