After Berkeley:
Objectif Exhibitions, 2010–2011
Published by Sternberg Press, Berlin, 2013, 264 pp. (b/w ill.), 10.5 × 14.9 cm, English
Price: €9

Edited by Mai Abu ElDahab. Following From Berkeley to Berkeley: Objectif Exhibitions, 2008–2010, this publication is the second in a two-part series of interviews with artists who exhibited at Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp, between 2010 and 2011. The interviews are accompanied by a collection of secondary and parallel material produced in collaboration with each artist.

Interviews: Matias Faldbakken by Nikki Columbus, Will Holder by Richard Birkett, Sophie Nys by Dieter Roelstraete, Clifford Irving by Francis McKee, Patricia Esquivias by Jonas Žakaitis, Norma Jeane and Tim Etchells by Anna Colin, Michael Portnoy by Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Hassan Khan by Brian Kuan Wood, Barbara Visser by Raimundas Malašauskas; and contributions by Mai Abu ElDahab and Dexter Sinister.

*Please note this publication is secondhand and has some traces of previous ownership (missing dust jacket, some damage).

#2013 #barbaravisser #briankuanwood #dextersinister #dieterroelstraete #francismckee #maiabueldahab #michaelportnoy #raimundasmalasauskas #sophienys #sternbergpress #willholder
Why Call it Labor?:
On Motherhood and Art Work
Published by Archive Books, Berlin, 2021, 178 pages, 12.5 × 21 cm, English / Arabic
Price: €10

Edited by Mai Abu ElDahab. Contributions by Mai Abu ElDahab, Lara Khaldi, Mary Jirmanus Saba, Mirene Arsanios and Nikki Columbus, Basma Alsharif.

Four essays and one conversation with contemporary artists and curators from different backgrounds and origins (Jerusalem, Lebanon, Kuwait, USA, Egypt) discussing their experience of becoming mothers as professionals in the arts, its reality and effects.

While their reflections represent a similar strata of art worker in terms of background, class, and career trajectory, the impact of instruments of patriarchy on rendering maternity invisible that they describe is recognizable and insidious. In a post-partum diary, Lara Khaldi makes audible the everyday exhaustion and disregard that comes with being a new mother; Mirene Arsanios and Nikki Columbus discuss the impact of the absence of legal or social protection for mothers; Basma Alsharif walks us through the difficulties of navigating the demands of different social contexts; Mary Jirmanus Saba pre-occupies at home with a flimsy maternity blog; And Mai Abu ElDahab puts propositions on the table for how to deal with all of this.

#2021 #archivebooks #basmaalsharif #maiabueldahab #mirenearsanios #mophradat #motherhood
Final Vocabulary
Mai Abu Eldahab (Ed.)
Published by Sternberg Press, Berlin & Mophradat, Brussels, 2015, 112 pages, 12.5 × 21 cm, English/Arabic
Price: €8

With texts by Federica Bueti, Malak Helmy, Francis Mckee, Haytham El Wardany, Brian Kuan Wood.

Five essays that take an intimate look at what language’s role is in moments of dramatic change, and how to find meaning for artistic practices in these transformative conditions. Taking its cue from the aftermath of the events of the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, Final Vocabulary doesn’t provide answers as much as it captures the spirit of the moment of searching in which the writers find themselves. The book was developed out of a live conversation at an event called “The Informal Meeting” that took place in Leuven in January 2015, where participants were asked: Our histories and references are often in a different language (abstract or actual) than we use ourselves, what tools do you think are or might be useful to help you trust your own memories and narratives? What, if anything, do you think we might borrow from art to experiment with language in different situations? In English and Arabic.

#2015 #briankuanwood #federicabueti #francismckee #haythamelwardany #maiabueldahab #malakhelmy #mophradat #sternbergpress