Overview

Bringing together more than fifty artists from across the Arab world, Maknana highlights a crucial moment in the history of contemporary art New Media art is a dynamic interplay of technology and artistic expression. The generative and mechanical aspects of the process highlight the intricate relationship between the artist and the machine—whether as a medium for exploration, a tool in the production process, or a nonhuman companion that cogenerates the output. The medium can also express autonomy and power, acting as either a declaration of independence from traditional forms of expression or a rebellion against mainstream or settled trajectories. Automation in the Arab World has signified its means for emancipation and autonomy. Vast and diverse, the region presents a complex landscape for the reception and integration of technology. Organized by Diriyah Art Futures, the first New Media Arts hub in the Middle East and North Africa region, Maknana offers a unique lens into the intersection of art and technology within the Arab world, inviting reflection on both the past and future of artistic expression in a rapidly changing landscape. Maknana is a homage to the collective journey of Arab New Media artists who have found ways to navigate, adapt, and repurpose global technological trends to reflect their unique perspectives. The artists featured in the book have worked at the intersections of digital and physical realms, often questioning the boundaries between public and private, local and global. Bringing together diverse works by more than fifty Arab New Media artists, Maknana offers a unique and unprecedented exploration of the region’s engagement with contemporary technologies as artistic tools.

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Haytham Nawar is a practicing artist, designer, and scholar in the fields of art and design. Over the past two decades, he has built a professional and academic career while simultaneously fulfilling various roles. He currently serves as Director of Diriyah Art Futures at the Ministry of Culture in Riyadh and a tenured faculty member at the American University in Cairo. Among his notable publications are Language of Tomorrow: Towards a Multicultural Visual Communication System in a Post-Human Era (Bristol: Intellect Book, 2020) and A History of Arab Graphic Design (The American University in Cairo Press, 2020). Ala Younis is an artist focusing on research, film, and publishing projects. She worked as co-Head of Berlinale’s Forum Expanded (2021-2024), co-Artistic Director of Singapore Biennale (2022), Artistic Director of the A cademy of the Arts of the World (2023–25), and research scholar at al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at NYU Abu Dhabi. S he is also co-founder of Kayfa ta initiative, which researches and publishes on and through independent endeavors. Among her editorial works, On the Book of Sceneries (Hatje Cantz, 2022), How to maneuver: Shapeshifting texts and other publishing tactics (Kayfa ta, 2020), and Time Is Out Of Joint (Sharjah Art Foundation, 2016) .

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