Passage

Passage is a new site-specific, two-channel video installation by poet, filmmaker and artist Nujoom Alghanem. Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, the immersive installation expands Nujoom Alghanem’s experimentation with contemporary Arabic poetry through the language of film. Nujoom Alghanem is a renowned poet and filmmaker who is considered a leading voice of her generation. With eight critically acclaimed volumes of poetry to date, she is highly regarded for her contributions to new forms of contemporary Arabic poetry. As an award-winning filmmaker, she has directed a number of features and documentaries that further the discourse around gender issues and societal norms. Her work was previously featured at the National Pavilion UAE in the 2017 group exhibition ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors: Positions in Play’. Some of her recent films were Sharp Tools (2017) which won around ten regional and International awards, Honey, Rain and Dust (2016), Nearby Sky (2014), which won Best Non-Fiction Prize in the Muhr Feature Competition at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) and Best documentary from GCC Film Festival, 2016, Abu Dhabi, Sound of the Sea (2014), which was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the Alexandria Mediterranean Countries Film Festival and Amal (2011), which won several awards including a Special Jury Prize from the Beirut International Film Festival. In addition, some of Alghanem’s other documentary films include Hamama (2010), Between Two Banks (1999), and Al Mureed (2008), winner of the Best Documentary in the Gulf from the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Also a poet, Alghanem has written eight poetry collections including Asqoto Fi Nafsi [I Fall Into Myself] (2012), Layloun Thakilon Alla Allayle [Heavy Night on the Night] (2010), Malaikat Al-Ashwaaq Al-Baeeda [Angels of Distant Longing] (2008), La Wasf Lima Ana Feeh [No Describing What I Am In] (2005), Manazel Al–Jilnaar [Homes of Pomegranate Blossoms] (2000), Rawahel [Journeyings] (1996), Al–Jarair [The Sins] (1991), and Masaa Al–Janah [Evening of Heaven] (1989). She earned a Master’s degree in film production from Griffith University School of Film in Australia, and a Bachelor’s degree in Video Production from Ohio University. Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath are the Founders of the multidisciplinary curatorial platform Art Reoriented in Munich and New York, Chairmen of the Montblanc Cultural Foundation in Hamburg, and Affiliate Curators at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin. Bardaouil and Fellrath have jointly curated numerous critically acclaimed exhibitions at renowned museums and institutions worldwide, and have held teaching positions at universities including the London School of Economics and New York University. They are award-winning authors with contributions to academic journals, books, newspapers and art magazines. Over the past decade, Bardaouil and Fellrath have curated exhibitions including Art et Liberté: Rupture, War, and Surrealism in Egypt (1938 – 1948), When Process Becomes Form: Dansaekhwa and Korean Abstraction, Staging Film, Tea with Nefertiti and Mona Hatoum: Turbulence, as well as the Lebanese Pavilion for the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013. Their exhibitions have been shown in leading global cultural institutions such as Centre Pompidou in Paris, Reina Sofia in Madrid, IVAM in Valencia, Kunstsammlung K20 in Dusseldorf, the Gwangju and Busan Museums of Art in South Korea, the Tate Liverpool, and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Their most recent exhibition Ways of Seeing, which brings together 41 works by 26 artists and collectives, is on display at NYUAD Art Gallery in Abu Dhabi until 17 November 2018. It was previously displayed at Arter – space for art in Istanbul and the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain in Brussels.

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Arsenale

Venice, NY