People

Defne Ayas is the new Director of Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam as of 2012.

Dr Yousif Aydabi is a poet, playwright, film critic and academic. He is currently the Cultural Advisor at the Dr Sultan Al Qasimi Centre for Gulf Studies and Advisor to the Arab Theater Authority in Sharjah.

Elissa Ayoub is a scholar and filmmaker who produces fiction and non-fiction films about the Middle East with a focus on women’s lives.

Hicham Ayouch is a former journalist, he worked for a few years in French television before shifting his career to writing and film directing.

Negar Azimi is the Senior Editor of Bidoun Projects.

Screenwriter and filmmaker, Azra Deniz Okyay has filmed various shorts, documentary and video art projects, fashion videos, commercials and music videos.

Samira Badran’s project for the 9th Sharjah Biennial Have a Pleasant Stay! was a visual and physical metaphor of the concept of suffocation and imprisonment based on the experience of passing through the dense and claustrophobic Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem.

Jeebesh Bagchi is an artist and curator with the Raqs Media Collective.

Encompassing video, film, collage and photography, Şirin Bahar Demirel’s work examines mis/displacement, home, memory and their relationship with places and objects.

Ismaïl Bahri is interested in phenomenology, and his drawings, photographs and videos capture small experiments.

Focusing on ontological conflict in convergence with indigenous, feminist, ethnic, environmental and social justice studies, Aline Baiana’s work reveals the importance of uncovering other histories.

Self-proclaimed ‘Famous New Media Artist’, Jeremy Bailey is a podcaster, venture socialist and the Head of Experience at FreshBooks.

Fine Artist Xenobia Bailey’s textile interpretations explore contemporary mythology, African antiquity and the 21st century visual aesthetic of ‘Cosmic-Funk’.