Selected Curatorial and Design Work
Aya Al Obaidi | Architect and Cutural Practionor 2020 -2023
About Aya
Aya Al-Obaidi is an architect and cultural practitioner based in Amman. Her background in architecture has paved the way for her work on projects lying on the intersection of arts, culture and community. Since 2020, Aya has built a career working in and around the Jordanian art community through both commercial and experimental projects. She is also a founding member of the Remote Closeness art collective.
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Lab of the future: Research residency
Remote Closeness: Art curation
FABRAKAT: Design work
Dar Art Fair: Communication and Coordination
Out of Frame - Communication and Coordination
References
Contact
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Lab of the Future - Research residency
Laboratory of the Future is a creative research/experimentation program/residency leading to a cultural event/festival in 2021 with the goal to address new questions and themes that emerged as a result of the Corona Pandemic and finding creative solutions and new artistic formats that can be realized within the new situation faced
The Corona-Crisis has led to a new reality that prevented us from continuing our way to work and live as we used to Travels and physical encounters were restricted or became impossible and economic constraints created hardships and reduced room for action The new situation also shifted social priorities and posed new questions about the role and necessity of arts and cultural events.
On the one hand, in a time of social isolation, many people realized the importance of arts for our own well-being. On the other hand economic and financial constraints posed new questions about the necessity of spending money on arts when people are struggling to meet their basic needs.
What role should arts and cultural events play in this new reality? With what kind of new questions is the cultural sector confronted and need to respond to? What kind of new cultural formats need to be developed?
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This project aims to create room for experimentation and for finding creative solutions that respond to the new realities we are facing. It brings nine cultural practitioners and artists from various backgrounds together to think out of the box and experiment with different possibilities that are needed in order to realize cultural events in the age of the “New Normal”.
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Roofs in the time of COVID; Reshaping the concept of the roof was Aya's proposal for the new normal approach
Remote ClosenessArt Curation
Remote Closeness is a collective of five artists and art practitioners who, through research and creative art programs and exhibitions, seek to imagine novel and sustainable approaches to art practices in Jordan and beyond The collective has worked on two programs since it inception in 2020 which are “An Other Normal” and “Shifting Grounds: ﺔﻣﻮﻤﻳد” .
Remote Closeness's First program concentrates on the theme of connectivity, during a time in which the boundaries of our screens and the outside world have become blurred. This event develops new approaches to remotely connect with the public, featuring 17 projects created by more than 20 creatives from various disciplines and backgrounds, with artworks that address the concepts of physical and emotional proximity. The Remote Closeness event was made up of a physical exhibition, 15 art trails spread across Jordan and a public program with workshops, talks and performances.
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FABRAKATDESIGN WORK
FABRAKAT : FEEDING PLACES
As a partnership between the Goethe-Institute Jordan and design studio Namliyeh, the exhibition FEEDING PLACES opens to showcase four food design interventions in participation with both the private and public sector to implement social business models for food-focused experiences, services, and products
The exhibition, FEEDING PLACES, comes as a fruit of the home-grown pilot program FABRAKAT which was launched in November 2021 and is based on the ten-year research and practice of design studio Namliyeh in the field. Using design as a tool to mobilize change, the transdisciplinary program seeks to equip designers with a multifaceted toolkit to lead change in the diverse food industry and the community at large.
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FABRAKATDESIGN WORK
Food is deep-rooted. It is embedded in everyday life, connecting us to broader systems and shaping our sense of place in the world as well as our engagement with others.
The core question of our work centers on addressing interrelated food problems ranging from agricultural practices, and the content of the modern diet, to the livelihood of farmers and indigenous communities Where do we start to challenge corporate power and influence political will against the many forms of injustice that are generated by the global food system?
My role was to deliver designs and direction for the signage, projects posters, guides and geneal labeling and event identity.
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FABRAKATDESIGN WORK
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Dar Art FairCommunication and Coordination
DAR Art Fair aims to support Jordanian and Arab artists by giving them a platform to showcase their creations, the organizers said
This year, the fair will feature a large collection of artworks from all categories of contemporary visual art by Jordanian artists, in addition to artists from 22 Arab countries, they added
The fair includes art collections from 15 participating galleries and more than 200 established and emerging independent artists.
A ceremony, which will precede the weeklong event, is scheduled for June 1 It will be by invitation to journalists, art collectors, and experts
“The exhibition aims to shed light on the diverse and rich artistic scene, “ said Rania Omeish, the fair’s founder-director She said it includes “all the genres: contemporary visual arts, and digital arts ”
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Out of Frame - Communication and Coordination
Out of frame fosters new narratives of social bonding and reclaiming space through art interventions. The project aims to shed light on the migrant communities in two specific neighborhoods, Manilla St and Khayyam St
Part of All Around Culture Program and is co-funded by the European union and implemented by L’art Rue
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The context of the two neighborhoods aimed to offer insight into migratory communities that have resided in the neighborhood for almost three generations now. The two neighborhoods are Khayyam Street located in Jabal Al Weibdeh and Manilla Street located in Jabal Amman. Manilla St. houses many east Asian migrant domestic workers primarily from the Philippines Khayyam St is home to many Somali, Sudani and Yemeni refugees as well Both neighborhoods lay in hills that are adjacent to each other in the central area of the capital The research was dedicated to understanding the historical context of the neighborhood and the migratory movement for both groups
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References
Remote Closeness
(Goethe institute)
Sophia
(JNGFA)
Khaldoun Hijazeen
(Collective member)
Paola Farran
Sama Shahrouri
Dar Art fair
Dina Rifai
Arda Aslanian
Sophia.Schall@goethe.de
khaldounmhijazin@gmail.com
paolafarran@gmail.com
samashahrouri@gmail.com
Fabrakat
Aya Shaban
(Co-founder of Namliyeh)
Out of Frame
Dalal Mitwali
darartfair@gmail.com
arda@darartfair.com
ayashaban@gmail com
dalal.mitwally@gmail.com
Contact Email ayam.alobaidi@gmail.com Phone number +962785153003 Remote Closeness