"If a story is told and no one is around to hear it, then did it even happen?"
With the common belief in cultural and creative expression as a means to affect deep and lasting social change we begin this year's worthy conversation series.
Work on politics and art is based on the assumption that art “plays a formative role in the constitution of social life, in the ways in which people take responsibility for creating their own histories, for participating in the management of their own social and political realities.”
In our discussion we explore the nuances of working with artistic expression in the historically complex and challenging environments of Yemen and Sudan
Mohammed BaWazir
Mohammed is a socio-cultural activist worker in the Yemeni cultural sector for the past 8 years and co-founded 2 youth-led initiatives to support arts and artists in his hometown, Mukalla. Currently leading Meemz, a social organization to create an artistic ecosystem and creative economy in Yemen.
Khalid Albaih
Khalid Albaih is a Romanian born, Qatar raised, Sudanese award-winning artist, political cartoonist, cultural producer and consultant based between Doha and Copenhagen. Albaih is on the board of several global art and media initiative
Besides his two books KHARTOON! and Sudan Retold on the shelves of international bookshops, Khalid political cartoons and political commentary on current affairs have been published on various established media outlets, publications and books. Khalid was named #4 on the list of the best cartoonists in the world by The Independent in 2017
As well as being the inaugural Soros Art Fellow as well as Artist's At Risk inaugural Freedom Fellow, Khalid is the founder of award-winning space sharing platform getfadaa.com; sudanartanddesignlibrary.com; SudanArtistFund.com; and @DohaFashionFridays