X-TALK #20 BY MAYSSA FATTOUH

RIVER WITHOUT WATER:
The Stillness of Closed Spaces

by Mayssa Fattouh
Curator / Co-Founder of TandemWorks

On Wednesday, February 17th 2016 at 7:00PM
at Al Balad Theater, Jabal Amman

Mayssa Fattouh is an independent curator based in Doha and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of TandemWorks. Throughout her career Fattouh has forged a reputation as a fervent supporter of independently run spaces and socially engaged projects. Fattouh has spearheaded numerous formal and informal art platforms and is responsible for further developing spaces such as Katara Art Center in Doha, where she served as Artistic Director and Curator and Al Riwaq Gallery in Manama, where she was Curatorial and Program Manager. In her capacity as exhibition maker, speaker and writer Fattouh has contributed to several group and solo exhibitions including her latest participation to Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art in Divergence-Faraj Daham part of Focus on Collections, Sadik Alfraji at the Beirut Exhibition Center, Beyond the Roadblocks by NeMe in Cyprus; participated in panel discussions and talks at the Vienna Art Fair, Museum of Islamic Art, UCL Qatar, CiMAM, Mathaf and took part in forums such as Tate Modern’s Young Curators Program. Her writings appeared in catalogues and magazines in the Arab Gulf, the Mediterranean region and Canada, including publications such as Fillip Magazine, Art Territories, Ibraaz and m-est.

The talk will present the multidisciplinary publication Hammoud Badawi, addressing the relation of the neighborhood and guest contributors, such as urban planners, artists, architects and other residing in the city with Nahr Beirut which had seized to exist in its natural form since 1958 and its impact on the environment, psyche and memory of people. The three fold project Hammoud Badawi is TandemWorks (TW) opening project - initiated by the Fattouh sisters at the invitation of theOtherDada integrated architecture firm. TWs mission attempts at engaging social and artistic practices in public spaces with the aim of establishing collective reflection in critical settings; an overview of TWs vocation will be discussed emphasizing on the angle of spatial equity and the understanding of this concept.