Upcoming
02 Nov 2016
International guest artist, November 2016: Natalia Ali
Natalia Ali, born in 1986 in Damascus has lived in Berlin for five years. In November she will live and work as an international guest artist at the Villa Romana.After completing a degree in art at Damascus University, she studied at Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). Last year, she was the coordinator for "Common Ground", a student initiative in Berlin that supports and networks socio-artistic projects at the UdK with and for people with a refugee background. In 2012, Natalia Ali co-founded Friedenskreis Syrien e.V., an organisation for peace in Syria.
Her artistic work - especially her videos and photographs, which have so far been exhibited in Germany, Austria and Syria - are characterised by the experiences of war, escape, separation and the attempt to overcome the lack of a voice.
Natalia Ali will give a public lecture at the Villa Romana during her stay in Florence.
The Villa Romana has invited international guest artists – from the Mediterranean region in particular – since 2007, thereby increasing the discussion of artistic practices and their contexts beyond the central European viewpoint.
Guest artists in previous years have been: Rula Ali, Qamishli (2016), Hagar Masoud, Cairo (2016), Zineb Andress Arraki, Casablanca (2015), Dalia Boukhari, Ramallah (2015), Alaa Ghosheh, Jerusalem (2015), Ghassan Halwani, Beirut (2014), Soudade Kaadan, Beirut (2014), Sofiane Zouggar, Algiers (2013), Eman Hamdy, Alexandria (2012), Karim Rafi, Casablanca (2012), Enkelejd Zonja, Tirana (2012), Mirene Arsanios and Setareh Shahbazi, Beirut/Berlin (2011), Eleni Kamma, Brussels/Maastricht (2010/2011), Bahman Jalali and Rana Javadi, Tehran (2010), Wafa Hourani, Ramallah (2009), Hany Rashed, Cairo (2009), Ines Schaber and Erik Göngrich, Berlin (2009), Karen Sargsyan, Amsterdam (2008), Aglaia Konrad, Brussels (2008), Edi Hila, Tirana (2007).
