Noor Abed (b. 1988, Palestine) is the recipient of the Han Nefkens Foundation—Fundació Antoni Tàpies Video Art Production Grant 2022, in collaboration with Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai; the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) in Manila; NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore and WIELS, Brussels.
Noor Abed was selected by the directors and curators of each partner institution, in meetings moderated by Han Nefkens, Founder of the Han Nefkens Foundation.
The Selection Committee stated: “Noor Abed’s proposal mobilises mythologies and folklore to reclaim past and present realities of communal existence against hegemonic strategies of social and cultural fragmentation. Through a poetic choreography of bodies, sites, narratives, and temporalities, her work encourages reflection on the manifestations of social action and resistance in the everyday life.”
“I’m particularly happy that we will be collaborating with Noor Abed. Her work offers a poetic and multi-layered exploration of both personal and communal emotions around loss. Abed emphasises the importance of shared experiences thereby allowing viewers to access her reality while at the same time reflect on their own.” —Han Nefkens
“In my work, I search for stories and narrations that are on the margins, trying to find clues to create alternative discourses. The work usually reflects the past—in its form or content—and yet it suggests a decisive connection to the future—as if it is a remembrance of things to come. Thinking of the reality we currently live in as haunted; I try to invite a shift in our memory. My work questions collective social identities through means of constructing mythologies and working around a critical stance of ‘folklore’ as a source of knowledge. I am to create situations for alternative social and representational models in Palestine.” —Noor Abed
Noor Abed will receive 15,000 USD from the Han Nefkens Foundation to support the production of a new, limited-edition video. The completed video will be finished by the end of September 2023 and from 2024 on, it will be exhibited internationally by the five collaborating institutions: the Fundació Antoni Tàpies in Barcelona; the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; WIELS in Brussels; the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) in Manila, and Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai.
In order to consolidate the candidates’ career the Han Nefkens Foundation—Fundació Antoni Tàpies Video Art Production Grant, appraises emerging artists who are 40 years old or less and live in the territory of West and Central Asia. They are artists who have established a solid trajectory, but they have not had the opportunity to exhibit extensively. The production grant should serve as an important source of support and boost in the artist’s career.
Noor Abed was selected by a judging panel chaired by Han Nefkens and composed of Joselina Cruz, Director/Curator at Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila; Nuria Homs, Curator at Fundació Antoni Tàpies; Helena Kritis, Curator of WIELS, Brussels; Anna Lovecchio, Assistant Director, Programmes at NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; Nora Razian, Head of Exhibitions at Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai; Dirk Snauwaert, Director of WIELS, Brussels; Linda Valdez, Exhibitions Manager at Fundació Antoni Tàpies; in the presence of Hilde Teerlinck, Director of the Han Nefkens Foundation and Alessandra Biscaro, Coordinator of the Han Nefkens Foundation.
The initial candidates for the Han Nefkens Foundation—Fundació Antoni Tàpies Video Art Production Award 2022 were selected by internationally recognized art critics and curators (nominated by each participant institution). The experts were Lara Acuin, Karina El Helou, Yasmine Helou, Ryan Inouye, Moad Musbani, Alya Sebti, James Tana and Salma Tuqan.
