Libya | Naima Morelli

Published! Italian colonial architecture in Libya on Al-Jazeera

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! Artists Exploring Libya’s History on The Markaz Review

By: Naima Morelli

04-03-2024

Libya, North Africa, Published, Research

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.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Marwa Benhalim

By: Naima Morelli

21-12-2023

Collection, Interview, Libya, Published

The Italian Magazine Arabpop has just published my interview with Libyan artist Marwa Benhalim in Italian, with the title “The history of the world in a fist of couscous.”

This issue magazine themed “feast” is now out in the press.

Here is the link to the pdf of the article Download

Published! Interview with Libyan writer Mahbuba Khalifa for The Markaz Review

By: Naima Morelli

13-11-2023

Interview, Libya, Published

The Markaz Review has published my latest article called “My Love for Derna: Interview with Libyan Writer Mahbuba Khalifa”

Mahbuba Khalifa, a Libyan philosophy graduate, is an author and poet from flood-devastated Derna, often called Libya’s “city of poets.” She has devoted her most recent book to the city of her childhood and adolescence.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Libyan art scene on Hadara

By: Naima Morelli

13-09-2023

Interview, Libya, News, North Africa, Published, Reportage, Research

My latest story: “Contemporary Libyan art is looking back at its recent and ancient history”, has just been published on the beautiful Hadara Magazine.

I spoke with curator Najlaa Elageli, artists Tewa Barnosa, Shefa Salem and many others.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Marwa Benhalim on The New Arab

By: Naima Morelli

03-08-2023

Interview, Libya, News, Published

Artist Marwa Benhalim told me there is an invisible line dividing Libya. I tried to guess what it was. But of the many divisions splitting Libya in two, I wouldn’t have ever thought about this one: couscous and rice.

She explains to me that on the western side of Libya, there are semolina fields, and all the main dishes are based on couscous.

On the eastern side, it’s all rice crops, and you can find rice-based recipes: “The couscous side of Libya was influenced by commerce with Morocco and Tunisia, the other side had rice comes from Asia through Egypt. Trade stopped in the middle because there is a very large desert,” she says. “Through the food people eat, you can really understand the history of a country.”

I have interviewed the artist for The New Arab.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Alessandra Ferrini and the relationship Libya-Italy on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

03-07-2023

Interview, Italy, Libya, News, North Africa, Published

The work of Alessandra Ferrini [Image courtesy of the artist]

Middle East Monitor has just published my latest article titled: “Artist Alessandra Ferrini explores the complex relationship between Libya and Italy.”

The article is based on an interview with London-based Italian artist Alessandra Ferrini, who deepens the conversation around colonial and recent Libyan history, creating work about the manipulation of information, colonial memory, trauma and reparations.

Here is the link to the piece

Published: Tripoli’s Art House for The New Arab

By: Naima Morelli

23-05-2023

English, Interview, Libya, News, North Africa, Published

Nessuna descrizione della foto disponibile.

I’m writing about Libyan contemporary art once again, this time for The New Arab, a magazine I regularly read, and I’m happy to start collaborating with.

The piece is based on an interview with Libyan curator Wareda Elmehdawi, who seeks to shed light on the richness of Libyan art history through her family’s work with the historical Tripoli Art House.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! The Libyan Pantry Project on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

14-03-2023

English, Interview, Libya, News, North Africa, Published, Research

A new show in Tripoli looks at 70 years of Libya’s consumer culture. [Photo By Najlaa Elageli]

Since I started writing about Libya in 2021, I grew more and more interested in the history of the country and how artists and people in the cultural field are retelling the Libyan story.

So clearly I was so excited to learn from curator Najlaa Elageli about this show she put up in Tripoli’s old medina with artists Hadia Gana and Alla Budabbus, called “The Libyan Pantry Project.” I had to write about it!

By the way, this is my 50th piece for Middle East Monitor. What an honour collaborating with them for such a long time!

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Libyan feminist literature on 360 Magazine

By: Naima Morelli

06-01-2023

Libya, Published

My article about female/feminist literature in Libya was published – in its Dutch translation – on the 214 December issue of the magazine 360.

Here is the link to the piece online

Published! Writers retelling Libya’s history on Al-Jazeera

By: Naima Morelli

01-09-2022

Libya, News, North Africa, Published, Research

Two Libyan women walk past graffiti depicting Muammar Gaddafi

My first article for Al Jazeera has just been published. It’s called “The writers retelling Libya’s history through a feminist lens” and tells how Libya’s women novelists (but not exclusively them) are reframing the country’s stories in a post-Gaddafi era.

I worked on it for a long time, and it was very satisfying to get to write a longform piece with a bit more of a narrative style. Also, I got to know this county a little deeper, not just through its visual art but also through literature. For the piece I have interviewed, among others, writers Kawther Eljehmi, Maryem Salama, Manuela Piemonte Mahbuba Khalifa, and Mariza d’Anna, and publisher Ghassan Fergiani.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Nada Harib for Al-Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

24-01-2022

English, Essay, Libya, Research

Al-Monitor has just published my interview with Libyan photographer and photojournalist Nada Harib. Her work is all about hope in the face of adversity and beauty in the midst of pain.

With her photographs widely exhibited in and outside Libya, from the Institut du Monde Arabe in France to the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, Harib’s work tells stories that have been forgotten or repressed during her country’s many turbulent phases.

It’s another step for me and Al-Monitor’s readers to learn more about the culture and humanity of Libya, beyond the news reports.

Here is the link to the interview

Naima Morelli

Published! Italian colonial architecture in Libya on Al-Jazeera

Published! Artists Exploring Libya’s History on The Markaz Review

Published! Interview with Marwa Benhalim

Published! Interview with Libyan writer Mahbuba Khalifa for The Markaz Review

Published! Libyan art scene on Hadara

Published! Interview with Marwa Benhalim on The New Arab

Published! Alessandra Ferrini and the relationship Libya-Italy on MEMO

Published: Tripoli’s Art House for The New Arab

Published! The Libyan Pantry Project on MEMO

Published! Libyan feminist literature on 360 Magazine

Published! Writers retelling Libya’s history on Al-Jazeera

Published! Interview with Nada Harib for Al-Monitor

About

MY BOOKS

Categories

Archives