A pioneering model for co-commissioning ambitious new work initiated by Mophradat, the Consortium Commissions exemplify the organization’s inventive approach to supporting artists from the Arab world. KW Institute for Contemporary Art presents part of the first edition of the new program with two solo exhibitions by Jasmina Metwaly (born in 1982, PL) and Yazan Khalili (born in 1981, SY).

Jasmina Metwaly presents Anbar (2019), a three-channel video installation with textile components, addressing the semantics of military uniforms in the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. The work is organized around three characters—a onetime soldier, a tailor, and an activist filmmaker—who each demonstrate particular ties to the Egyptian military.

The exhibition by Jasmina Metwaly is part of the Consortium Commissions—a project initiated by Mophradat. It is presented in association with Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (US). 

Yazan Khalili presents Medusa (2020)—a video installation based on the artist’s long-standing engagement with digital archiving in times of political unrest. Khalili addresses the rise of facial recognition technologies. The human face as basic mode of identification triggers well-known dystopic tropes and scenarios. However, technology is created by humans and their respective weaknesses; and thinking technology needs to be informed by human imagination in its overtly emancipatory capacity.

The exhibition by Yazan Khalili is part of The Consortium Commissions—a project initiated by Mophradat. It is presented in association with Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto (CA).

The exhibition’s accompanying program will further reflect the collective practices Jasmina Metwaly and Yazan Khalili stand for. Metwaly is known for her work with the prominent Cairo-based video collective Mosireen, while Khalili is director of the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, a groundbreaking non-profit organization in Ramallah (PS).

Curator: Tirdad Zolghadr
Assistant Curator: Kathrin Bentele

Exhibition Folder (PDF)