October 2010: Not Yet Anywhere - Installation - Manifesta 8 - The European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Murcia, Spain
Opening: 9 October 2010
Building on a lecture-of-letters first presented at Manifesta Coffee
Break, Take to the Sea expands a small exhibition room in a former
abandoned post office into a performative space for speech acts.
May 2010: Presentation, Arab Women Techies Gathering, Beirut, Lebanon.
A presentation of how an attempt to deploy a technological tool in the
form of an interactive map was used to represent intricate issues in the
question of irregular economic migration via the sea such as border
control, uncontested desires and unlimited uses of the sea.
May 2010: Presentation, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies Research Conference, the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
A paper presentation of Take to the Sea’s initial field research and
narratives gathered from migrants and their families, with a focus on
routes and villages.
December 2010: Tapes to the Sea - Lecture of letters at Manifesta Coffee Breaks, Towards Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain
A lecture taking the form of a series of pre-recorded and read out
letters, some actual, most made up, some from the future and some to the
dead.
August 2009: Presentation, Encuentro internacional de Cartografía Ciudadana, Gigon-Asturias, Spain.
A presentation of Take to the Sea’s attempt at creating an interactive
map on irregular migration from North Egypt to South Europe via the
Mediterranean Sea in a gathering of techies, artists and activists where
mapping practices as political tools of awareness, advocacy and
activism were discussed, debated and developed.
April 2009: Presentation, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies Seminar Series, American University in Cairo, Egypt.
A presentation of researchers' testimonies in Egyptian villages that
house an abundance of migrants' accounts, a screening of the documentary
To The Sea and the sound piece
22 Days, 55 Hours.
December 2008: Workshop, Land Center, Cairo, Egypt.
A workshop that convened researchers, lawyers and para-legals to look
into security practices towards irregular migrants and their families
and possible rights-based protection strategies.
October 2008: Exhibition, ArtHarlem, New York, USA.
In an exhibition, 22 Days, 55 Hours
(sound documentary) was presented in a room, against two main visual
elements. The first is an interactive map showing routes taken by
irregular migrants to cross from one side of the Mediterranean to the
other. The other is a photographic series by Osama Daoud
from Rashid, in the northwest coast of Egypt, a main site of
investigation, where fishermen and irregular migrants share dreams and
stories.