Phone Art Yemen Photo Sessions
Date: November 2019 + January 2020
Type of project: Mobile Photo Walks
Two Photo-Walks took place; in November 2019 in Sana’a and again in January 2020 in Aden where young creatives were guided by a photographer guide offering perspective on street and mobile photography. A three day presentation took place in Sana’a in late February 2020 to celebrate the work and activities of PhoneArt Yemen and was attended by nearly 200 guests. See more activities and photos through the program’s account on instagram @phoneart.yemen
Romooz Sessions | Kula Lumpur
Date: September 2019 | Malaysia
Type of project: Art Meetings
8 Yemeni creatives residing in Kuala Lumpur were selected based on an open call to be part of the inaugural Romooz sessions. The session presented insights and tips regarding portfolio development, networking and funding/grants opportunities available for Yemeni creatives.
The creatives represented verity of background and fields; music, graphic design, photography, film-making, painting, poetry and creative writing
Creative Writing Workshop for Young Yemeni Writers
Date: June 2019 | Yemen
Type of project: Literature Workshop
Through a 2-week training workshop, 11 young Yemeni writers will improve their writing techniques and personal voices. A publication will be launched at the end of the workshop, gathering the short stories written by the participants. Male and female participants from all over Yemen will learn and develop together, discuss and cooperate to produce a joint collection of short stories.
On Echoes of Invisible Hearts: Image Making in Times of Unrest
Date: April - May 2019 | Beirut
Type of project: Art Exhibition
On Echoes of Invisible Hearts is a series of location specific exhibitions, each featuring a varying group of artists from Yemen and its Diaspora. Image Making and Popular Archiving in Times of Unrest, takes place in Beirut so as to generate a dialogue between the tumultuous internal strife that has historically and presently unfolded in both Lebanon and Yemen. The show features artists who reimagine dominant national narratives through independent documentation and without glorifying or mystifying the current war that is ravaging across Yemen. Instead, they question the ways in which conflicts are recorded by societies and present alternative paradigms of representation.
In The Land of Shattered Windows: Young Voices from a Broken Yemen
Date: June 2018 - March 2019 | Yemen
Type of project: Poetry Dialogue
Sitting at the intersection of modern technology and poetic tradition, In the Land of Shattered Windows aims to bring voice to some of the major personal, political, and social conflicts that dictate daily life in Yemen today. Through the exchange of audio recordings of original poems via Whatsapp, young creatives from the opposite sides of these conflicts will communicate alternative narratives to one another that shed light on the human aspects of daily life in Yemen that are missing from the international headlines. The project can be viewed on the website shatteredwindows.com
On Echoes of Invisible Hearts: Narratives of Yemeni Displacement
Date and place: September 26 to October 18 2018 | Berlin
Type of project: Art Exhibition
On Echoes of Invisible Hearts features works by artists in Yemen and the diaspora whose explore themes of loss and estrangement due to the current war. In an effort to engage with more personal accounts of the conflict, the exhibition acted as a platform to put forth the artists’ views regarding their experiences as Yemenis. The show is conceived to be presented in the U.S. or Europe so as to further connect to the greater refugee and immigrant experiences that have been at the forefront of current-day political discourses.
Curated by Lila Nazemian, the exhibition featured work by the following Yemeni Artists: Yasmine Diaz , Ibi Ibrahim , Habeeb Abu-Futtaim , Saba Jalas, Eman al- Awami , and Arif Al Nomay . An illustrated catalogue by Yemeni designer Zulfa Ishak accompanied the exhibition.
How to become A Photographer Artist
Date and Place: August 2018 | Sana’a
Type of project: Workshop
A three day workshop organized by Diwan Al Fan and Yemen Art Base with the purpose of developing he theoretical skills of five Sana’a based photographers. The workshop focused on theory and development, working in projects, and finding the photographer artist’s voice. A number of group tasks were assigned during the workshop as well as a Skype conversation with Bahraini photographer artist Mai al-Moataz where the guest artist spoke to the five participants about her craft and ongoing projects as well as challenges often faced by early career photographer artists. At the end of the workshop, the selected participants worked together as a collective and presented a photo-essay on the subject of “Object and Memory”. See the photo-essay here.
Diwan Al Fan Art Residency in Berlin
Date and Place: November - December 2017 | Berlin
Type of project: Art Residency
Two contemporary Yemeni artists underwent a month long art residency program in Berlin in November 2017. The residency period ended with an Open Studio on November 28th at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) headquarters after a panel discussion titled “Yemen and the Gulf: Scenarios and repercussions of the Yemen war.” The exhibition was on display until the end of December 2017 at FES headquarters in Berlin. By inviting two Yemeni artists to Berlin, Diwan Al-Fan aimed to foster cross-cultural relations through screenings, workshops and open panel discussions and to present two local perspectives dealing with the current political situation in Yemen.