Assemblage: Gatherings on Contemporary Art, 2023 - 2024
Assemblage: Gatherings on Contemporary Art was planned as a series of public events and activities that connected teaching and research at Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne. The program included three symposia-style events featuring lectures, talks, curated exhibitions, screenings, and workshops by local and international artists and scholars highlighting the intersections of art, gender, sexuality, race, migration, and decolonization.
The project was initiated and conceptualized by Abdullah Qureshi, who led the programming from 2023 to 2024. The programming also included two curated exhibitions by Abdullah Qureshi: Sweeping Tide: Notes Toward Decolonial Feminisms (2024) and Unlimited Intimacy (2023).
The project was initiated and conceptualized by Abdullah Qureshi, who led the programming from 2023 to 2024. The programming also included two curated exhibitions by Abdullah Qureshi: Sweeping Tide: Notes Toward Decolonial Feminisms (2024) and Unlimited Intimacy (2023).
The 2023-2024 iteration of the Assemblage program was supported by the Art Practice and Conservation Subject Area, the Department of Arts Research Funds, and the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion team at Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, as well as the Finnish Institute UK + Ireland.
Partners included Vane Gallery, Gateshead and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, London.
Partners included Vane Gallery, Gateshead and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, London.
Assemblage I:
Body and Politics
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Film Screening: Inner GodsLocation: CCE1 003, Northumbria University
Exhibition Tour with Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh
Location: Vane Gallery, Gateshead
Exhibition Opening: Unlimited Intimacy
Curated by Abdullah Qureshi / Artists: Tessa Boffin, Phyllis Christopher, Sunil Gupta, Stuart Linden Rhodes, and Charan Singh
Location: Vane Gallery, Gateshead
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Welcome: Julie CrawshawLocation: Squires Cinema (SQB020a), Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Artist Talk: Restore the Boundaries: Mapping Bodies of Water. Speaker: Naiza Khan. Moderator: Abdullah Qureshi
Location: Squires Cinema (SQB020a), Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Film Screening: Henna Hands and its Afterlives, Naiza Khan
Location: Location: Squires Cinema (SQB020a), Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
| Panel Discussion: Navigating the Archive: Political Bodies and Histories. Speakers: Phyllis Christopher, Naiza Khan, and Stuart Linden Rhodes. Moderator: Abdullah Qureshi Location: Squires Cinema (SQB020a), Northumbria University. |
Contemporary Art Research Forum: Art & Class – Gavin Butt and Janette Parris
Location: Squires Cinema (SQB020a), Northumbria University.
Exhibition: Video Shop Horrors – a project by the Horror Studies Research Group led by Johnny Walker
Location: Gallery North, Northumbria University
Exhibition: Artistic Contributions by Northumbria Faculty
Artists: Charles Danby, Liz Green, Allan Hughes, Kate Liston, Abdullah Qureshi, Ginny Reed, and Cecilia Stenbom
Location: Experimental Studio, Lipman Building, Northumbria University
Friday, October 27, 2023
Processing Practice: Body, Memory, and the Archive Project Presentations: Yasmeen Ghrawi & Naiza Khan. Co-moderated by Abdullah Qureshi and Donna ChambersLocation: SQB 501, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Assemblage II:
Time and Space
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Space Assembly: The Cultural Negotiation of Space Science – organised by CNoS and the Space IDRT.
Location: Room SQ020 – Squires Cinema, Squires Building.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Workshop #1: Alternative Data Analysis (ADA)
Led by Dr Laura Harrington, Cultural Negotiation of Science research group, Northumbria University, and Dr Nicolette Barsdorf Liebchen, Bournemouth University
Location: Experimental Studio, Lipman Building.
Workshop #2: Transplanetary Architectures
Led by Luis Guzmán & Blanca Pujals, Cultural Negotiation of Science research group, Northumbria University, Monika Brandic Lipinska and Anne-Sophie Belling, Bio-Futures for Transplanetary Habitats research group, Newcastle University
Location: Experimental Studio, Lipman Building.
Workshop #3: Performing Space - SPELLS
Led by Nahum, KOSMICA Institute
Location: Room 027, Squires Building.
BxNU Discussion: Complex Support Needs, Art and Higher Education – organised in collaboration with Project Art Works. Led by Andrea Phillips
Location: Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead.
Exhibition: Closed Enough
Artists: Amanda Riffo, Brák Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir, Eygló Harðardóttir, Halla Einarsdóttir, Una Björg Magnúsdóttir, Martha Lyons Haywood, Joe Keys and Logi Leó Gunnarsson
Location: Vane Gallery, Gateshead.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Welcome: Julie Crawshaw
Location: Squires Cinema, Squires Building
Panel Discussion: Hyphenated Practices: The Porous Boundaries between Artistic Production and Exhibition Making Speakers: Rolina Blok, Lina Hermsdorf, Joe Keys and Una Magnusdottir. Moderator: Abdullah Qureshi
Location: Room SQB020, Squires Cinema, Squires Building
Intervention: Walking as practice, walking as pedagogy: exploring built environments with Incursions
Location: Starting point: Room SQB020, Squires Cinema, Squires Building
Panel Discussion: Walking as practice, walking as pedagogy: exploring built environments with Incursions
Location: Room SQB020, Squires Cinema, Squires Building.
Films: The CNoS Screening Programme
Location: Experimental Studio, Lipman Building.
Exhibition: LOOP
Location: Gallery North
Friday, December 1, 2023
Workshop: Praxis In-Action: Documentation as Artistic Research.
Location: Room 501, Squires Building
Assemblage III:
Community and Care
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Contemporary Art Research Forum (CARF): Last Thing - Screening and Discussion with Deborah Stratman
Venue: LIP0026, Northumbria University
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Questionable Tastes? How Sexual Sociality Matter - Lecture and Discussion with Professor Susanna Paasone, Moderated by Dr Rachel Hann
Venue: LIP031, Northumbria University
You Know You Want To - Artistic Project by Rolina Blok, Alex Schady, Elizabeth Wright, in collaboration with students from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
Venue: Vane Gallery
Thursday, February 15, 2024
MARGINALITIES - Research Group Launch and Panel Discussion with Dr Claire Ogah, Dr Sanghita Sen, Dr Reem Refaat Talhouk in conversation with Professor Donna Chambers
Venue: SQB020, Northumbria University
Sweeping Tide: Notes Toward Decolonial Feminisms - Panel Discussion with Tamara Al-Mashouk, Syowia Kyambi, and Sepideh Rahaa in conversation with Abdullah Qureshi
Venue: SQB020, Northumbria University
Sweeping Tide: Notes Toward Decolonial Feminism - Exhibition curated by Abdullah Qureshi. Artists: Tamara Al-Mashouk, Syowia Kyambi, and Sepideh Rahaa,
Venue: Gallery North and Experimental Studio, Northumbria University
Friday, February, 16 2024
Visiting Galleries and Community Arts Spaces in Glasgow Field Trip for Northumbria University Fine Art and CCIM Students.
Supported by:
Doctoral Project:
Mythological Migrations: Imagining Queer Muslim Utopias, Aalto University, Espoo, 2017 - Present
Mythological Migrations: Imagining Queer Muslim Utopias - Artistic and Curatorial Strategies of Collaboration, Collective Resistance, and Coalition Building is a multidisciplinary doctoral dissertation that examines formations of queer identity, resistance, and community in Muslim migratory contexts through contemporary art practice. Set against the background of rising Islamophobia, racism, anti-immigrant sentiments, homophobia, and transphobia in the west over the last two decades, the project seeks to expand critical queer Muslim migratory perspectives and challenge the prevalent belief that Islam and liberal discourses on gender and sexuality are mutually incompatible. The thesis builds upon transnational feminist and queer intersectional scholarship alongside traditions of translation, interpretation and innovation in Islamic art and cultural histories to disrupt dominant western-centric constructions of queerness and forefront the representation of non-heteronormative gender and sexual identities from diverse positionalities.
The dissertation comprises two artistic components: Chapter 1: The Nightclub (2019) and Chapter 2: The Darkroom (2020). The artistic components are accompanied by a monograph that offers critical and theoretical reflections on the presented artworks, films, and discussions, furthering diverse perspectives on queer, Muslim, racialized, and immigrant gendered and sexual positionalities.
The artistic components are pre-examined and approved by the doctoral committee at Aalto University. The monograph was submitted for pre-examination in June 2025, with defence expected in November 2025.
Supervisor and Advisor: Professor Mira Kallio-Tavin, University of Georgia, USA
Advisor: Jeuno Kim, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
Supported by: Kone Foundation, Finland
The artistic components are pre-examined and approved by the doctoral committee at Aalto University. The monograph was submitted for pre-examination in June 2025, with defence expected in November 2025.
Supervisor and Advisor: Professor Mira Kallio-Tavin, University of Georgia, USA
Advisor: Jeuno Kim, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
Supported by: Kone Foundation, Finland
Chapter 1: The Nightclub
Commissioned by Publics for Today Is Our Tomorrow Festival, Club Kaiku, Helsinki, Chapter 1: The Nightclub is a one-night multidisciplinary exhibit that addresses exclusionary histories in European culture that target immigrants and bodies of colour.
13 September 2019
Photographs courtesy: Aman Askarizad, Kush Badhwar, and Joni Korhonen, 2019
Program:
Premiere of Journey to the CharBagh
A film by Abdullah Qureshi, with Danai Anagnostou as Producer, and Directors of Photography: Hadi Rehman and Kerttu Hakkarainen.
Performance by Meera Band
Classical music; covers of Fairuz, Dalida, and Warda Al Jazairia
Where are you from?
A film by Tamara Al-Mashouk
Alif is for Awakening
A performance by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Premiere of Journey to the CharBagh
A film by Abdullah Qureshi, with Danai Anagnostou as Producer, and Directors of Photography: Hadi Rehman and Kerttu Hakkarainen.
Performance by Meera Band
Classical music; covers of Fairuz, Dalida, and Warda Al Jazairia
Where are you from?
A film by Tamara Al-Mashouk
Alif is for Awakening
A performance by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Chapter 2: The Darkroom
Organized virtually, in collaboration with Gay Sauna Vogue, Helsinki, and Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto, Chapter 2: The Darkroom examines critical views on cruising, erotic spaces, and liberatory sexual practice from queer, Muslim, and BIPOC perspectives
28 – 31 October 2020
The program includes artistic contributions, films, and talks, featuring:
Tamara Al-Mashouk, Morehshin Allahyari, Lina Bembe & Max Disgrace, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mustafa Boga, Yara El Safi, Sunil Gupta, Jaya Jacobo, Abdi Osman, Blake Paskal, Hadi Rehman, Anthony Rosado, Queering Space x Amani Saeed, Umair Sajid, Begum Taara Shakar, and Derrick Woods-Morrow.
Tamara Al-Mashouk, Morehshin Allahyari, Lina Bembe & Max Disgrace, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mustafa Boga, Yara El Safi, Sunil Gupta, Jaya Jacobo, Abdi Osman, Blake Paskal, Hadi Rehman, Anthony Rosado, Queering Space x Amani Saeed, Umair Sajid, Begum Taara Shakar, and Derrick Woods-Morrow.
Chapter 2: The Darkroom
Talk Schedule
October 28
16:00 EET; 10:00 EST
Chapter 2: The Darkroom
Introduction
Abdullah Qureshi
Hosted by the Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto. Co-Sponsored by The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, The Sexuality Studies Program, and School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
17:00 EET; 11:00 EST
Artist Panel
Queerness Elsewhere
Hadi Rehman, Begum Taara Shakar, and Umair Sajid in conversation with Abdullah Qureshi
18:30 EET; 12:30 EST
Artist Panel
Unraveling and Revealing: Intimate Encounters
Abdi Osman and Yara El Safi in conversation with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Hosted by the Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto. Co-Sponsored by The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, The Sexuality Studies Program, and School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
October 29
17:00 EET: 11:00 EST
Queering Space x Amani Saeed
Ihsan, a spoken word performance and conversation
18:30 EET: 12:30 EST
Panel Discussion
Much Handled Things Are Always Soft
Derrick Woods-Morrow, Blake Paskal, and Anthony Rosado in conversation with Tamara Al-Mashouk
16:00 EET; 10:00 EST
Chapter 2: The Darkroom
Introduction
Abdullah Qureshi
Hosted by the Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto. Co-Sponsored by The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, The Sexuality Studies Program, and School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
17:00 EET; 11:00 EST
Artist Panel
Queerness Elsewhere
Hadi Rehman, Begum Taara Shakar, and Umair Sajid in conversation with Abdullah Qureshi
18:30 EET; 12:30 EST
Artist Panel
Unraveling and Revealing: Intimate Encounters
Abdi Osman and Yara El Safi in conversation with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Hosted by the Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto. Co-Sponsored by The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, The Sexuality Studies Program, and School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
October 29
17:00 EET: 11:00 EST
Queering Space x Amani Saeed
Ihsan, a spoken word performance and conversation
18:30 EET: 12:30 EST
Panel Discussion
Much Handled Things Are Always Soft
Derrick Woods-Morrow, Blake Paskal, and Anthony Rosado in conversation with Tamara Al-Mashouk
October 30
17:00 EET: 11:00 EST
Artist Talk
Sun City and Beyond
Sunil Gupta
18:30 EET; 12:30 EST
Panel Discussion
Trans and Femme Perspectives on Art, the Erotic, and Representation
Jaya Jacobo, Lina Bembe & Max Disgrace in conversation with Danai Anagnostou
October 30
17:00 EET; 11:00 EST
Artist Panel
Reversing the Orientalist Gaze
Tamara Al-Mashouk, Mustafa Boga, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in conversation with Abdullah Qureshi
18:30 EET: 12:30 EST
Conclusion
On process, organization and collaboration
Abdullah Qureshi & Danai Anagnostou in conversation with Mira Kallio-Tavin
17:00 EET: 11:00 EST
Artist Talk
Sun City and Beyond
Sunil Gupta
18:30 EET; 12:30 EST
Panel Discussion
Trans and Femme Perspectives on Art, the Erotic, and Representation
Jaya Jacobo, Lina Bembe & Max Disgrace in conversation with Danai Anagnostou
October 30
17:00 EET; 11:00 EST
Artist Panel
Reversing the Orientalist Gaze
Tamara Al-Mashouk, Mustafa Boga, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in conversation with Abdullah Qureshi
18:30 EET: 12:30 EST
Conclusion
On process, organization and collaboration
Abdullah Qureshi & Danai Anagnostou in conversation with Mira Kallio-Tavin
Supported by
Cluster for Critical Artistic Research (CCARe),
Aalto University, Espoo,
2019 - Present
Cluster for Critical Artistic Research (CCARe), established in 2019 as a research group within the Department of Art at Aalto University, Finland, is a network and platform of/for artistic researchers looking at issues of critical artistic research, feminist and queer studies, intersectionality, postcolonial and decolonial studies, posthumanism, new materialism, practice and collaboration, and experience-driven knowledge. The group brings together a community of doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty members at the university.
Members include Freja Bäckman, Rebecca Close, Marie-Andrée Godin, Jon Irigoyen, Dr. Mira Kallio-Tavin, Ali Akbar Mehta, Dr. Julia Valle Noronha, Marina Valle Noronha, Tiago Martins Pinto, Abdullah Qureshi, Sepideh Rahaa, and Dr. Timothy Smith.
Website
Research Output:
Publication: Co-edited with Mira Kallio-Tavin and Marie Andrée Godin. (2021, December). Critical Artistic Research as Practices of Care. Research in Art and Education. https://journal.fi/rae/issue/view/8030
Members include Freja Bäckman, Rebecca Close, Marie-Andrée Godin, Jon Irigoyen, Dr. Mira Kallio-Tavin, Ali Akbar Mehta, Dr. Julia Valle Noronha, Marina Valle Noronha, Tiago Martins Pinto, Abdullah Qureshi, Sepideh Rahaa, and Dr. Timothy Smith.
Website
Research Output:
Publication: Co-edited with Mira Kallio-Tavin and Marie Andrée Godin. (2021, December). Critical Artistic Research as Practices of Care. Research in Art and Education. https://journal.fi/rae/issue/view/8030