Sawt al-Arshīf (صوت الأرشيف)
Sawt al-Arshīf is a series of articles and video essays produced by researchers, scholars, and practitioners in response to materials in al Mawrid’s Arab Art Archive. These commissioned essays highlight a particularly compelling document in the archive with a close analysis of the text in relation to other scholarly engagement with the collections. For this series, we also invite custodians of artist estates to provide personal accounts of managing and maintaining collections. Through this series, we hope to activate the Center's archive, highlighting its diverse content of primary documents.
All Articles
Sawt al-Arshīf AudioVisual Series
Archives Informing on Audience Interaction in Public Art Events. Case: Amman, 1990s | SAF Ep. 1
The first episode of Sawt al-Arshīf Audiovisual Series explores the collections of three significant artists—Shakir Hassan Al Said, Marwan Kassab-Bachi, and Rafa Nasiri—focusing on their engagements with audiences during public events at Darat al Funun in Amman in the 1990s. Informed by archival video recordings and unpublished papers from al Mawrid's Arab Art Archive at NYU Abu Dhabi, this episode examines the dynamics of audience interaction, the nature of the publics involved, and the shifting authority between speakers and listeners. Research and video by Ala Younis.
SAF Special Feature: Art Education in Arab Cities
This series of short audiovisual episodes highlights artists from Al Mawrid's archive, focusing on their influential roles as educators within the cities they lived in. Derived from the Art Education in Arab Cities (1938–2003) exhibition curated by Ala Younis for Al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, these episodes reframe the exhibition's content into concise, engaging videos. The aim is to broaden the exhibition's reach, making it more accessible to a larger audience while fostering more significant interaction with the material. By presenting the artists' contributions to art education in a dynamic format, the episodes invite deeper exploration and engagement with the cultural impact of these educators in their respective cities. The series is released as a special feature within the audiovisual series of Sawt al-Arshīf.
Art Education in Arab Cities: Mahmoud Hammad x Damascus | SAF Ep. 2
This episode focuses on how to trace artist Mahmoud Hammad's transformative role in art education in Damascus. Through personal correspondence, photographs and academic papers, we explore Hammad's views on art education, his voluntary work in translation, and his peer's testimonies on his impact on students and colleagues during a pivotal time in Damascus's artistic development. Research and video by Ala Younis.
Art Education in Arab Cities: Rafa Nasiri x Baghdad | SAF Ep. 3
This episode highlights documents from Rafa Nasiri's archive that relate to his educational efforts at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad. Photographs, official documents, and letters allow us to glimpse Nasiri's multifaceted role as an artist and educator and the modes of work in art education institutions in Baghdad from the 1960s to the 1980s. Research and video by Ala Younis.