Welcome to my still work-in-progress newsletter.

It is hot and humid, which means it’s summer in Dubai and living ain’t easy. A time to spend indoors, at least during peak sunshine hours.

I mentioned in an email I sent out in February that I am aiming to create a centralised mailing list, and to schedule sending out a newsletter once to twice a month. I’m still (slowly) working on it.

In the meantime, I’d like to share with you some news, a couple of upcoming events I’m hosting, and exhibition recommendations.

Above image: Film still from The Witches of the Orient (Julien Faraut)

News

Last month, I was featured in Screendaily’s Future Leaders 2024: Film Festival Programmers and Curators to Watch. I wrote a few words about it on my blog.

THE CREEK IS FOR ME. THE CREEK IS FOR US. is a new series that I started during PhMuseum’s Transmedia Storytelling Masterclass led by Salvator Vitale, which started last October and ended last month. It includes photography, a trailer for an unmade film using archival footage, a new two-channel video titled Creek by Night, posters and a few other objects. Some of these are still work in progress. Will add works from this series on my portfolio website soon and share a link next time.

Visual Culture Club - Edition 3
Sunday, June 9

Visual Culture Club is a collaboration I started in March with Hobb, an independent design and visual culture bookshop.

An invitation to look and talk about an image that stood out for you recently - a photo, an advertisement, an album cover, a film still, a meme - any visual that made you look twice.  

Attendees are asked to bring their image printed on paper (or print it at Hobb) to have a group discussion about why it stood out for you, and what kind of images make us pause in an age of visual overstimulation.

An exercise to look at and touch an image on paper, and a break from scrolling on digital screens. 

Free to attend.

Date: Sunday, June 9, 4.00pm-5.00pm
Location: Hobb Design & Visual Culture Bookshop, Al Safa 1, Wasl Square, Block 4, Dubai, (location map)

The Culturist Film Club
Tuesday, June 11

With the Paris 2024 Olympics not far off (July 26-August 11), I thought it would be a good opportunity to screen the following film at Alliance Francaise in Dubai.

The Witches of the Orient
Director: Julien Faraut
2021, France, 100 min, Japanese with English subtitles

How did a group of humble factory workers become a phenomenal sports success story and the pride of an entire nation? Meet the former players of the Japanese women’s volleyball team, now in their 70s, they used to be known as the ‘Witches of the Orient’ because of their seemingly supernatural powers on the courts.

From the formation of the squad in the late 1950s as a worker’s team at a textile factory, right up until their triumph at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, their memories and true magic from long ago bubble up into a heady brew where fact and fable fly hand in hand.
More information here.

Date: Tuesday, June 11 at 8.00pm
Location: Alliance Francaise, Dubai (location map)
Ticket: AED 35 (free for Alliance Francaise members)

Recommendations

Exhibitions:
The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde (1962–1987), at Al Hamriyah Studios and Old Al Diwan Al Amiri. Ends on June 16.

Echoes of Sir Bani Yas: Artistic Reflections at XVA. Ends on June 19.