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Mariam Shurghaia

Arts for Social Inclusion 2022: Artist Profiles

By Podcast
In 2022, we launched the first art27 open call Commissions of Collaborative Artworks. The Arts for Social Inclusion project awarded successful applicants funding for the creation of new collaborative artworks. The initiative supports the creation of new collaborative artworks by artists with lived experiences of migration, aiming to foreground new narratives on migration and forced displacement.
We are proud to feature these conversations with the successful artists. In these special episodes of ReSounding, we spoke to the artists about the formulation of their collaboration, the narrative and impetus behind their works, and the wider political impact that they perceive in their practice.

Letters to Ukrainians by Yoanna Ayers and Mariam Shurghaia

In this episode, art27 Coordinator Sofia Vieira speaks to Yoanna Ayers (Poland) and Mariam Shurghaia (Georgia/Ukraine). The artistic duo received funding for their latest project Letters to Ukrainians.

Following a fortuitously encounter at a protest against the war in Ukraine in Battonya, Hungary, the two artists started working together on a song to express their solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Their project, Letters to Ukrainians, was thus born. Letters to Ukrainians is an anthem, a message of hope expressing solidarity with all those suffering from the violent conflict enfolding in Ukraine.

Charkh Bezan Ba Eftekhar by Elena Yaqubee and Fabio Joel Tunno

In this episode, art27 Coordinator Sofia Vieira speaks to Elena Yaqubee (Afghanistan) and Fabio Joel Tunno (Italy) about their latest project Charkh Bezan Ba Eftekhar (Whirling Pridefully).

Resorting to music, poetry and theatre, Charkh Bezan Ba Eftekhar carries a message of strength and resistance against injustice and violence in the world. It aims to overcome indifference and bring awareness, amplifying the voices of those being forgotten by a society that has become too complacent. The project blossomed after Elena Yaqubee and Fabio Joel Tunno met in a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, in 2021.

Adam’s Book by Abubacar Adam Togo, Ana Guerrero, and Liliya Golovanova

In this episode, art27 Coordinator Sofia Vieira speaks to Abubacar Adam Togo (Sudan), Ana Guerrero (Colombia) and Liliya Golovanova (Russia), three artists based in Paris, France. 

Adam’s Book is an intimate artistic project that delves into the life and art of Abubacar Adam Togo. It explores not only Adam’s refugee story and the violence in his home country but also experiences and memories from everyday and mundane life – typically not attributed to the collective imagination of people experiencing forced displacement. In the making for the last 3 years, Adam’s Book is a collection of all the mediums Adam works in, featuring poetry, paintings, sketches, and photography. It opposes the common narrative around refugees and migrants, offering a singular and intimate image into Adam’s way of looking at the world.

Delirium by Anas Qadamani and Anan Alkadamani

In this episode, art27 Coordinator Sofia Vieira speaks to Anas Qadamani and Anan Alkadamani, two Syrian artists based in the Netherlands who received funding as part of the initiative art27 Commissions of Collaborative Artworks. 

Anas Qadamani is an audiovisual design artist, currently studying at Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam; Anan Alkadamani is a composer and musician, who recently graduated from Codarts, Rotterdam. The two Syrian artists met in the Netherlands, after escaping war in their home country. Delirium, the three-minute-long audiovisual artwork created by the artistic duo, explores and expresses the unprocessed thoughts, experiences and feelings that took place during the journey from Syria to the Netherlands. The duo describes the artwork as an experimental process between music and visuals, with one reacting to the other.