Farah Abdessamad
@cosmofa.bsky.social
olive pulp from 🇫🇷🇹🇳 reader, writer, critic. Ani is my writing disrupter 🐈⬛ Book on Folk Art ‘25. Also novel & series of essays in progress on postcolonial identities, expansive genealogies, and affective art. www.farahabdessamad.com
London dispatch II: a round up of artists not to miss at 1-54’s African contemporary art fair observer.com/list/nine-ar...
Nine Artists Not to Miss at 1-54 London
The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair is back at Somerset House for its 13th edition with special projects, live performances and work by 100 contemporary African and diasporic artists.
observer.com
London dispatch: Frieze London, very meh except for several of these booths: observer.com/list/the-eig...
The Eight Best Booths at Frieze London 2025
Despite the commercial noise, a handful of galleries delivered powerful presentations that proved meaningful art can still cut through the fair’s gloss.
observer.com
Very exciting shows in London ahead of Frieze Week. Here’s my roundup👇 observer.com/list/eight-e...
Eight Exhibitions Not to Miss During Frieze Week London
As London prepares for another electrifying week of fairs, galleries across the city are showcasing a dynamic mix of historic rediscoveries and cutting-edge contemporary art.
observer.com
I spoke with curator Nada Shabout about the historical ebullience + legacies of the Baghdad Modern Art Group and its trailblazers for Observer. observer.com/2025/08/inte...
Curator Nada Shabout Traces the Enduring Legacy of the Baghdad Modern Art Group
The Group played a seminal role in the reinvention of postcolonial identity through avant-garde art.
observer.com
I recently came across an article that lucidly explains why #wuxia novels can't attract more attention in the anglophone world. Summary: - Cultural barriers - Linguistic abyss & translational onus - Overabundance of names & proper nouns with cultural nuances. www.thebubble.org.uk/culture/lite...
Literary 'kung fu pandas': the Chinese wuxia genre and why Westerners don't know it (Part I) | The Bubble
In Part I of this article, Audrey Wong introduces the genre of Chinese wuxia novels and their sociocultural importance, and begins to explore the reasons behind their lack of traction in the Western w...
thebubble.org.uk
Beyond the news: A few words on art restitutions #newsletter Once in a while, I’d like to offer a slight look away from hard news, politics, or humanitarian crises. France prepares new bill to facilitate the restitution of some colonial property… melissa.substack.com/p/beyond-the...
Beyond the news: A few words on art restitutions
As France prepares new bill to facilitate the restitution of some colonial property, let’s reflect on the situation between Europe and Africa…
melissa.substack.com
Latest review on Afghanistan’s war rugs on show at the British Museum for Observer. Sparse despite rich material. Does it reduce a country to its violence? observer.com/2025/08/exhi...
Afghanistan’s War Rugs Weave a Knotty History at the British Museum
These rugs probe the aestheticization of war and the risk of defining a country primarily by its violent past and present at the expense of other narratives.
observer.com
My latest review of Ali Cherri’s largest UK survey on show at the Baltic. On monuments, death, metamorphosis, and our constant struggle between sky and earth. observer.com/2025/07/exhi...
Ali Cherri Honors Life, Loss and Defiance in ‘How I Am Monument’
Wide-ranging works illustrate the artist’s range and capture the exhibition’s parable: what is destined to live will die, as what dies may rise again.
observer.com
I reviewed Banu Mushtaq’s International Booker Prize win, Heart Lamp (translated by Deepa Bhasthi). Short stories amplifying the voice and lives of Indian Muslim women and recognition of Kannada language literature. For @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/features/hea...
Heart Lamp: 12 stories of Indian Muslim women under patriarchy
Book Club: International Booker winner Banu Mushtaq’s ’Heart Lamp’ highlights the lives of Muslim women in India, exploring love, loss, and societal pressures
newarab.com
I sat down to speak with Palestinian-Saudi artist Dana Awartani, whose show on Middle Eastern cultural destruction opened at Bristol’s Arnolfini last weekend. I really cherish our candid chat about Gaza, Aleppo, and much more. For @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/features/dan...
Dana Awartani’s show on Middle Eastern heritage lands in Bristol
Dana Awartani uses tile-making and textiles to tell stories of cultural loss in the Middle East. We spoke to her about her exhibition ’Standing by the Ruins’
newarab.com
Beautiful no-screen day out in Leicestershire today. Fern forests, roaming deers, scintillating butterflies.
Predictable sentence in Tunisia’s revived dictatorship www.france24.com/en/africa/20...
Tunisian court sentences prominent lawyer critical of president to two years
Sonia Dahmani, a prominent Tunisian lawyer known for her criticism of President Kais Saied, was sentenced on Monday to two years in prison, her lawyers said. Human rights groups say theTunisian presid...
france24.com
My review of Liverpool’s biennial, BEDROCK, is out for Observer. Solid curation carrying an important message: forging deep and diverse connections enrich us. observer.com/2025/06/art-...
The 13th Liverpool Biennial Celebrates a Vibrant World-City
The Biennial balances global perspectives with local voices proving the city remains a crossroads where art, history and lived experience collide.
observer.com
In Bristol today to chat with Palestinian-Saudi artist Dana Awartani ahead of the opening of her first European solo show at Arnolfini tomorrow, “Standing by the ruins” — more soon
Fab day in Newcastle to see Ali Cherri’s latest show at the Baltic Centre. Review coming up. Remembrance, loss, defiance. We are from earth and sky — mud and gods.
What are some of things you wish you knew before starting a substack for lit/art criticism?
La biennale de Gaza a organisé sa première exposition à Londres. Par @cosmofa.bsky.social www.lequotidiendelart.com/articles/275... – @quotidiendelart.bsky.social
La biennale de Gaza a organisé sa première exposition à Londres - Le Quotidien de l'Art
Il n’y a jamais eu de pavillon palestinien à la biennale de Venise (Israël en dispose dans les Giardini depuis 1952). L’Italie ne reconnaît pas l’État de Palestine. Les propositions précédentes pour l...
lequotidiendelart.com
Gaza is the story. In every sector, people are mobilizing against erasure. For Le Quotidien de l’Art, I wrote about the Gaza Bienniale, a grassroot effort to directly connect with Palestinian artists and their works. My report from London a few days ago. www.lequotidiendelart.com/articles/275...
La biennale de Gaza a organisé sa première exposition à Londres - Le Quotidien de l'Art
Il n’y a jamais eu de pavillon palestinien à la biennale de Venise (Israël en dispose dans les Giardini depuis 1952). L’Italie ne reconnaît pas l’État de Palestine. Les propositions précédentes pour l...
lequotidiendelart.com
In England (where I am at the mo), there’s a fun fair in the park for upcoming Eid. It’s joyful. In France, my dad is scared for his safety when he goes to pray. And he has every reason to be given free license to harass and assault Muslims. What’s going on in France isn’t normal.
Currently reading for upcoming book review: Heart Lamp from Banu Mushtaq (trans Deepa Bhasthi) @andotherstories.bsky.social
My latest for wonderful @miznaarabart.bsky.social on Tunisia’s speculative futures and pasts. A dream! mizna.org/mizna-online...
An honour attending Gaza Biennale’s latest in London — a day of solidarity, art activism, and grief. More soon 🖊️
Caught up with Malak Mattar’s show today in London — this large narrative painting on Gaza’s inferno & a gripping leporello
Can’t stop raving about RBO’s new production of the Ring cycle. Watched Die Walküre in cinema last night (streaming live in 22 countries!). Just spectacular.
For @thenewarab.bsky.social I reviewed “The Book of Sana’a” (@commapress.bsky.social), an anthology of ten short stories from Yemeni writers. A lovely read that left me wanting to grasp whether a city in literature can be more than ornamental geography: www.newarab.com/features/boo...
The Book of Sana’a: Yemen stories by Yemeni writers
Book Club: The Book of Sana’a features a collection of historical and fantastical stories by Yemeni writers that revolve around war, violence, and fate
newarab.com
