Naima Morelli

Published! Art SG Market Report on The Art Newspaper

24-01-2024

Visitors at the second edition of Art SG Singapore

Courtesy of Art SG

I have been in Singapore in the last couple of weeks, to report on the Art fair ART SG and the art week. I wrote a piece on the sales on the preview day for The Art Newspaper. Below a snippet and the link.

“‘Welcome to the tropical jungle,’ reads a sign welcoming visitors to the impressive green wall at Terminal 3 of Singapore Changi Airport. The irony is, of course, that despite its geographical setting, the Lion City is anything but a jungle. Everything it does is planned and in an orderly manner.

This includes a decades-long effort by its government to position the city-state as an art hub for the diverse and organic Southeast Asian art scenes. After some turbulence, the flagship international fair Art SG was launched last year and well received by an art-starved, post-pandemic public, gathering 164 galleries from 35 countries.”

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Samia Halaby on The New Arab

By: Naima Morelli

24-01-2024

English, Interview, Middle East, Published

Palestinian artist Samia Halaby discusses her latest exhibition, 'Flurrying' | Arab News

“I see the beauty in many places, many times, and I have always wanted to interrupt conversations to point out what I see,” says Palestinian artist Samia Halaby. “I learned not to do so, and share beauty through painting.”

Today in her eighties, Samia Halaby is a pioneer of abstract painting and a central figure in Palestinian art, with an artistic career that started in the late 1950s and was also accompanied by a strong commitment to the liberation of her country.

I have interviewed the artist for The New Arab.

Here is the link to the interview

Published! Su Hui-Yu at Singapore Art Week for The Financial Times

By: Naima Morelli

24-01-2024

Interview, Published, Research, Singapore, Taiwan

My latest piece for The Financial Times. I have interviewed the Taiwanese artist Su-Hui Yui about his work on collective memories, transgression and technological change in Asian societies that he presented during the Singapore Art Week.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! A need-to-know guide to Ithra for Wanderlust

By: Naima Morelli

29-12-2023

Middle East

I first visited the cultural center Ithra in Saudi Arabia back in April, and I have recently wrote a guide to it for the Uk-based travel magazine Wanderlust.

“Driving up to the centre, in concentric circles around Ithra, is the best way to take in the sleek sculptural silver shape of the building of the cultural center Ithra in Dhahran, in the Eastern Province.

After an initial sense of wonder, curiosity arises about a space fast becoming a leading creative institution, and a bastion for art and cross-cultural experiences in the Saudi art scene.”

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Art in Riyadh on Wanderlust

By: Naima Morelli

28-12-2023

Middle East

Along with Jeddah, Riyadh is at the forefront of everything contemporary and trendy in Saudi. The Riyadh art scene is becoming more lively by the day, thanks to an ever-growing calendar of Biennales, festivals, and events.

I wrote for Wanderlust a list of seven of the most interesting art spaces in town, to understand what contemporary art means in a bustling country that is undergoing such rapid social change.

Here is the link to the piece

Curatorial text: Inessa Kalabekova’s Descendants of the Dragon in Singapore

By: Naima Morelli

27-12-2023

Central Asia, English, Essay, News

I have written the curatorial text for the new show “Descendants of the Dragons” by Singapore-based Kazakh artist Inessa Kalabekova at the Music Box Museum. The show opened on 1 December, and will run until 31 January 2024.

Please find the press release down below.

Published! Noor Riyadh for Al-Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

26-12-2023

Middle East, News, Published, Reportage, Visit

My piece on the light art festival Noor Riyadh has just been published on Al-Monitor.

“Standing in the middle of the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, a swarm of drones creates delicate constellations on the horizon. A virtuoso is playing the piano on a stage, complementing the 3,000-drone performance conceived by Studio Drift — an artist duo formed by Dutch artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta — called ‘Desert Swarm’.”

Here is the link to the article

2023: The Year in Review

By: Naima Morelli

25-12-2023

Uncategorized

Finally we are in that part of the year where we start looking back and planning for the future. As everyone who has been around me lately knows too well, this year I went all in into the reviewing and the planning. Never was I so serious about it – I guess because it’s so much fun for me!

The reflecting phase started already from the 1st of December. I had just came back from a swirlwind of trips in end of October beginning of November – Paris, Budapest, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh literally one after the other – and even had to say no to two more, very enticing press trips to Khazakistan and Qatar. But I was exausted. I had to stop and digest all my experiences. So as soon as I put my suitcase on the parquet of my home in Pigneto, Rome, I de-installed the social media from my phone, and decided to go full into the reviewing/planning process.

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 Sarri Elfaitouri on The Markaz Review

By: Naima Morelli

04-12-2023

Uncategorized

For architect and artist Sarri Elfaitouri, starting from scratch in Benghazi is an existential necessity. After the March 2023 demolition of the city’s historical center, he reflects on urbanism, social reforms, and the legacy of colonialism in Libya.

I have interview Elfaitouri for The Markaz Review.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Manar Abu Dhabi on MEMO

By: Naima Morelli

02-12-2023

Essay, Middle East, News, Published, Reportage, Research, Visit

What is the role of art in times of conflict? I wrote a piece about it for Middle East Monitor, centered on the art light festival, Manar Abu Dhabi, curated by Reem Fadda and Alia Zaal Lootah from 15 November 2023. The festival runs to 30 January 2024.

Here is the link to the article

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

Naima Morelli

Published! Art SG Market Report on The Art Newspaper

Published! Interview with Samia Halaby on The New Arab

Published! Su Hui-Yu at Singapore Art Week for The Financial Times

Published! A need-to-know guide to Ithra for Wanderlust

Published! Art in Riyadh on Wanderlust

Curatorial text: Inessa Kalabekova’s Descendants of the Dragon in Singapore

Published! Noor Riyadh for Al-Monitor

2023: The Year in Review

Published! Interview with Marwa Benhalim

Published! Interview with Sarri Elfaitouri on The Markaz Review

Published! Manar Abu Dhabi on MEMO

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

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