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.
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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
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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
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Aside from big names such as Marina Abramović, the Balkan region is little known globally, making it ripe for collectors.
I have interviewed some of these artists, collectors and galleries for the Financial Times.
Here is the link to the article
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I have interview artist Maria Madeira and reviewed “Kiss and Don’t Tell,” Timor-Leste’s inaugural pavilion at the Venice Biennale for Plural Art Mag.
The show amalgamates Timorese traditions, personal narratives of displacement, and universal struggles for identity.
Here is the link to the article
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The Italian newspaper Il manifesto has just published two pieces of mine. One is an article reflecting back on the art week and the art marketin Hong Kong, the second is an interview with artist Kingsley Ng who did a commission for the façade of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong.
Here is the link to the article
Read More![The "South West Bank" show at Palazzo Mora [Naima Morelli]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_3287.jpg?fit=1067%2C800&ssl=1)
My first report from Venice. Besides the controversy around the closed Israeli Pavilion, in this article for Middle East Monitor I look at three shows representing different facets of Palestine at the 2024 Venice Biennale
Here is the link to the article
Read More![Malaysian-Palestinian artist Mandy El-Sayegh .[Photo Abtin Eshraghi. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Portrait-of-Mandy-El-Sayegh-in-her-studio.-Photo-Abtin-Eshraghi.-Courtesy-of-the-artist-and-Lawrie-Shabibi-1536x1025-1.jpg?fit=1199%2C800&ssl=1)
Middle East Monitor has just published my latest interview with Malaysian-Palestinian artist Mandy El-Sayegh.
Based on assemblage and cultural hybridity, the artist’s work uses artifacts from contemporary culture to speak of the current political climate.
Here is the link to the interview
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Over the past three years, there has been a shift in perception around the Saudi Arabian art scene, and at this year’s Desert X AlUla, artists benefitted from freer expression.
I have review the art festival for the German webmagazine Qantara.
Here is the link to the article
Read More![Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha [Naima Morelli]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/030941cf4fa69dd0-photo.jpg?fit=1067%2C800&ssl=1)
With shows that range from political stances to introspective research, Doha’s Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art proves itself to be one of the most authoritative voices for Arab narratives and the Global South in art.
Here is the link to the article
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My latest piece for The Markaz reviw is about two exhibitions in Tripoli and Florence. These examine Libyan identity, gauging what to take and what to leave of its colonial past and its ancestral roots, while trying to make sense of the last years of civil war.
Read More![Faisal Saleh, founder of Palestinian Museum, speaks during the inauguration of the facility in Woodbridge, Connecticut, April 22, 2018. [HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GettyImages-950084052.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1)
“A few months ago, the director of the Palestine Museum US, Faisal Saleh, was in a room in Venice with members of the commission for the 2024 Venice Art Biennale. They tried to explain to him why his proposal for a collateral exhibition of Palestinian artists was rejected.
Saleh is not only Palestinian, but also very American in his ethos. So, he told me, when the Biennale spokesperson tried to convince him that art and politics have to be kept separate, he didn’t hesitate to tell them, ‘Well, I may not be as much of an expert on art as you are, but I do know that politics and art are intertwined. You can’t really separate one from the other.’ “
Faisal Saleh, director of the Palestine Museum US has started a petition to have a Palestinian-only collateral show at the Venice Biennale 2024. I spoke with him for Middle East Monitor.
Here is the link to the interview
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Naima Morelli is an arts writer and journalist specialized in contemporary art from Asia-Pacific and the MENA region.
She has written for the Financial Times, Al-Jazeera, The Art Newspaper, ArtAsiaPacific, Internazionale and Il Manifesto, among others, and she is a regular contributor to Plural Art Mag, Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye as well as writing curatorial texts for galleries.
She is the author of three books on Southeast Asian contemporary art.
Reach out: contact [at] naimamorelli.com
