Occupational Hazards

Occupational Hazards is an exhibition dedicated to artworks that have been lost, damaged or destroyed when shipped throughout the Middle East. While items can become ruined or lost without ill intent, this is also happening as governments become increasingly wary of subversive movements to the point of scrutinizing anything that looks unusual or unfamiliar. And like everything else that crosses borders, the circulation of art can also fall under intense inspection when the works in question are misinterpreted as possessing a definitive message or an inherent influence, especially when art’s esoteric qualities elude a standard interpretation of value and meaning. Presenting a range of works by artists with deep connections to Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Kuwait, Palestine, and Tunisia, as well as other artists with works marked by travels through the Middle East/North Africa region, the project addresses how and why artworks become subject to overzealous vetting systems–whether by deliberate force or through passive negligence–and in some cases, how artists are able to reclaim agency despite these circumstances. Exhibition organized by Alexandra Stock Featuring work by: William Andersen & Maryam Hosseinnia Mohamed Ben Soltane Walead Beshty Aissa Deebi Amir Farhad Ahmad HammoudShuruq HarbKhaled HouraniHuda LutfiCarol MatherYassin MohamedKarin SanderNegar Tahsili Occupational Hazards was selected through apexart’s Open Call. Alexandra Stock is a Swiss/American curator and artist based mainly in Cairo since 2007. She holds a BFA from the Zurich University of the Arts, participated in De Appel’s Curatorial Program and has held curatorial and/or managerial positions at four leading contemporary art institutions in the MENA region. She has co-/curated exhibitions and festivals in Alexandria, Amsterdam, Bahrain, and Cairo and has exhibited or screened her own work in Amsterdam, Belgrade, Brussels, Cairo, Dahab, Kampala, Lomé, Maastricht, Paris, Winterthur, and Zurich. Stock is currently developing a project with support of the FfAI and is pursuing an MA in Diplomacy at SOAS. Image: Ahmad Hammoud, Passport for the Stateless, 2016 More Info below.