Political Art | Naima Morelli

Published: Laila Shawa on Middle East Monitor

03-04-2019

English, Essay, Middle East, Published, Research

LailaShawa
Lend your pen to what’s important, my friend. Life is beautiful when you use what has been given to you – in my case this passion for writing – to share with others what inspires you and makes you – and others – feel that tingling of excitement.

So a lot has been written already about Islamo-Pop Palestinian artist Laila Shawa. However I wanted to measure myself with the work of this artist too, and learn about about her incredible life. And I did it for Middle East Monitor, some of the kindest people devoting themselves to the socio-political realm.

Here is the link to the article

Published! 5 Thai Artists Making Socio-Political Works

By: Naima Morelli

09-01-2019

English, Essay, Research, Thailand

As I’m gearing up to leave for a reportage on contemporary art in Thailand in February, I’m gathering all the preliminary research in these pieces for Cobo. These encapsulate my core areas of interest (you might have read already 5 Thai Artists that Connect Us to Spirituality)

I really love to make those articles that gather artists by topic. I see them as so much more than simple listicles. I have the chance to research the practice of an artist in depth, and then distill the essence of their practice in a few paragraphs. In this way I’m also able to see how artists from the same country have different approaches to the same topic. By spotting similarities and differences, I can start grasping some sort of whole and overarching narrative.

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Interview with Arahmaiani on CoBo

By: Naima Morelli

06-09-2016

Indonesia, Interview, Published, United States

Thanks to the amazing CoBo, little by little I’m getting to interview all my favorite contemporary artists! This time I chatted with Arahmaiani, a legend and a model of badassery in contemporary art and in life. The piece is called: “The Superheroine of Indonesian Contemporary Art”.

I have interviewed her for her new show at Tyler Rollins in New York, from September 15 to October 29. We talked about many different subjects, but the aspect I decided to focus on for the piece was her shift from criticism to activism in her work.

Since I first started researching Indonesian art, the political and social aspect of the art was the one that struck me the most. Over time I have asked artists if it is really possible to have an impact on society with contemporary art alone. Overall, Indonesian artists seemed to me much less romantic and much more hands-on compared to some of their European counterparts.

Here’s the link to the piece

Published! Faig Ahmed at MACRO for Escape

By: Naima Morelli

04-04-2016

English, Essay, Italy, Middle East, Published, Review, Visit

TimesofAzerbaijan
I have been following Azerbaijan’s exploits in the contemporary art world for quite a while now, and it has been interesting to look at the backstory behind their success. The opportunity for doing so was given to me by this great and dramatic show by Azerbaijan artist Faig Ahmed at MACRO, Rome.

The show was food for thought itself – confronted with this melting traditional carpets it was impossible to leave Zygmunt Bauman and Aldous Huxley out of the equation. I have written the story for Escape, the Sunday edition of the Times of Malta.

Here’s the link to the piece

Naima Morelli

Published: Laila Shawa on Middle East Monitor

Published! Faig Ahmed at MACRO for Escape

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