Jameel Arts Centre is pleased to host Flow Talks: Introducing The Joy of Sharing, a conversation between Han Nefkens and writer Nazli Ghassemi as part of a global series celebrating the Han Nefkens Foundation’s latest book.
In this session, Han Nefkens and Nazli Ghassemi will discuss Blue and Red (2014) by artist Zhou Tao, exploring the intersections between video art, literature, and imagination. Ghassemi, whose contribution to The Joy of Sharing was inspired by Zhou Tao’s work, will offer insights into how moving images influence the creative process, shaping new narratives and artistic dialogues.
The evening will also feature a screening of Blue and Red, providing audiences with the opportunity to experience the artwork firsthand before delving into the conversation.
This event is part of a wider initiative marking twenty-five years of Han Nefkens as a patron of the arts, bringing together leading international writers to engage with video artworks produced by the Foundation. Edited by Hilde Teerlinck, the accompanying book presents original literary responses to video art, reversing the conventional dynamic where visual artists often take inspiration from literature.
Han Nefkens (Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1954) is a writer, art collector, and art patron based in Barcelona. What started in 2001 with the purchase of a video installation by Pipilotti Rist has grown into a collection of contemporary art consisting of photographs, videos, installations and paintings that is lent as ‘promised gifts’ to several museums in the Netherlands. In 2006, Nefkens established the Han Nefkens Foundation that supports emerging and mid-career video artists by financing production and providing them with an international platform through its collaboration with, up until now, more than sixty art institutions worldwide including the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, MAXXI in Rome, the Singapore Art Museum, M+ in Hong Kong, MUAC in Mexico City, the Bass in Miami, MACBA, the Museu Tàpies and the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona. Nefkens’ reflections, inspired by encounters in his daily life.
Nazli Ghassemi (1966, Iran) is a freelance writer and novelist based in Tehran and Los Angeles. She has collaborated internationally and locally with artists and art-related projects, including curatorial practices, proposals, writings, video performance, installation, exhibition reviews, essays, and brochure statements. Her writings have appeared in prominent art publications such as Artforum, Hyperallergic, Carnegie International Magazine, Elephant Magazine, and Modern Painters, among others. Her novel, Desert Mojito, written while she was teaching in Dubai, was published in 2013. She has lived and traveled extensively across America, Europe, and the Middle East. Nazli is the founder of ARTexTalk, a contemporary arts and culture agency focused on writing, reporting, and documenting art.
(Image – Blue and Red, Zhou Tao, 2014. HD video, Colour, Sound, 25’14”)
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