Sara Raza | Naima Morelli

Published! Central Asian artists in Doha

24-01-2025

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! Art Curators as Public Intellectuals on The Markaz Review

By: Naima Morelli

09-10-2023

Central Asia, Interview, Middle East, News, Published

I wrote a piece for The Markaz Review, wondering whether curators who organize international exhibitions and develop books aren’t in fact public intellectuals. With interviews to @roseissaprojects @punkorientalism @farah.abushullaih

“Contrary to popular belief, it remains true that the specter of the intellectual still haunts the art world. The only thing that has changed is the mask they now hide behind — that of ‘curator.’ The current dislike of the word intellectual runs just as deep as our love for the word “curator.” ‘

Here is the link to the piece

Published! Punk Orientalism on Al-Monitor

By: Naima Morelli

21-02-2023

Central Asia

It is fascinating when worlds that seem to be light-years away from each other suddenly come together, materializing unexpected commonalities. Take the term “Orientalism,” a concept established by Palestinian-American author Edward Said to describe the West’s commonly contemptuous portrayal of the East. Would you ever associate it with punk counterculture?

Probably not, but that’s what curator, writer and academic Sara Raza did with her new book, titled “Punk Orientalism: The Art of Rebellion.” The book explores the spaces and places associated with the former Soviet Union, focusing on the artists and ideas hailing from Central Asia and the Caucasus, which were long perceived as an extension, or “client” states, of the USSR.

Al-Monitor has just published my interview with Sara Raza

Here is the link to the article

Naima Morelli

Published! Central Asian artists in Doha

Published! Art Curators as Public Intellectuals on The Markaz Review

Published! Punk Orientalism on Al-Monitor

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