ALBAWABA - "Art and the City: Urban Space, Art and Social Change" conference kicked off at Jordan's Columbia University in the capital Amman with the presence of local and international artists with different backgrounds.
The fifth edition of "Art and the City" was held in Amman between June 11 and 14. The conference was launched in 2018 and it took place earlier in Berlin, Tours, and Aarhus.
The "Art and the City" conference is curated by Dr. Tijen Tunali, an academic, artist, and currently a Mellon fellow at Columbia Global Centers in Amman.
"Art and the City" conference interviews:
In an interview with Dr. Tijen Tunali, she began by introducing herself to Albawaba and said that she has gained a PhD in art history from the United States. She detailed that her project is about murals throughout the Middle East; specifically Amman, Istanbul and Beirut.
Albawaba asked Tunali about the concept behind "Art and the City" conference in Amman, and she said that it started with her fellowship in France in 2018. She added that this is the fifth conference and each one is held in a different city.
Dr. Tijen Tunali said that the place of the upcoming "Art and the City" conference is still not decided.
Albawaba aslo interviewed Swedish art professor Josepha Wessels, who came to Jordan to attend he 2023 "Art and the City" conference. The Swedish artist said that she won't be giving a lecture at the Amman conference, but that she part of the scientific commitee and that she works with the organizer of the conference, Dr. Tijen.
Wessels further added that the "Art and the City" conference was attended by various people from across the globe, such as Greece and the United States.
We asked her about herself and how she learnt Arabic, the artist detailed that used to live in Aleppo, Syria years before civil war that started in 2011. She said that the first time she visited Jordan was in 1998 when she drove a car from Syria's Aleppo to Amman.
The Swedish art professer was asked about her opinion in art in Jordan and Middle East
She said that she liked the development of the new art in the Middle East espically Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan since 2011and continoued to say that she currently has a project in Sudan's Khartoum, but was unfortunetaly stopped due to war in Sudan that began in April 15.
Moreover, Wessels added that she visited some of the sreet arts and murals in Jordan and she really liked them.
About "Art and the City" conference:
"Art and the City: Urban Space, Art and Social Change" conference series, which was held for 3 days in Jordan, puts together artists with an interest in art and 'right to the city', aesthetics and politics of the urban environment, artistic rebellion on the streets, aesthetics of urban social movements and art activism in the urban space.
"With 30 presentations and 3 keynotes every year, Art and the City conference series serve as a hub for researchers across social sciences and humanities to engage in transregional dialogues and collaborations such as edited volumes, special issue, exhibition, and joint funding applications."
