by Nuqat and bazaar staff
The State of the Elastic Mind is essentially a play on words where the mental space can also translate into cognitive statehood, possibly with its own flag and governance.
This year, Nuqat aims to investigate the mind’s elasticity in the forms of creative thinking amongst seemingly impossible barriers.
This November, The Nuqat 2019 Regional Conference program orchestrates 10 days of cultural entertainment. Attendees can listen in on talks about the future of cities right before catching an outdoor music performance. The dynamic schedule is curated to combine knowledge exchange with opportunities for creative expression and experience.
During the three days of talks, Elias Soueidi will be exhibiting “Ruins to Reality”, his virtual reality experience that will plunge the participant into a historic digital realm. This is where participants can virtually interact with historical landmarks and architecture that have been destroyed to deepen their relationship with the structures.
On the second day of talks, on the 21st of November, Zeina Daccache will screen her film Johar …. Up in the Sky which is performed by inmates from Roumieh Prison in Lebanon. The emotionally charged theatrical performance is superbly directed in the film where cathartic dynamism takes the center stage. The film screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Zeina herself to understand her mindset and the role it played in producing the film.
Outside the conference walls, from November 20-29, Nuqat activities will engage public spaces all around Kuwait in the dialogue. Dar Al Funoon will host Tarek Al Ghoussein’s exhibition titled “Al Sawaber”. Al Ghoussein’s exhibition documents the decay of the housing project through its elaborately decorated walls and murals that will be plastered on the gallery walls. Down the Gulf road at The Hub, Cross-Cultural Diwaniya (CCD) will spark a discussion around mindsets and its relations to cross-disciplinary dialogue.
Simultaneously, at the gallery downstairs, Athoub Al Busaili, a Kuwaiti artist, will exhibit “Choreography of a Desert Fountain.” The exhibition is a spatially distributed memory of a desert environment. Vividness between imagination and reality in this surreal body of work is etched and into steel and leather in their most fragile form.
The spirit of exploring mindsets, their malleability, and adaptability prompted an ambitious regional approach to the conference. Transcending borders highlights Nuqat’s mission of connecting the region’s creative economy through dialogue and cultural development. The regional aspect of this year’s conference aims at engaging the region, through workshops, educational tours and film screenings, all of which pertain to the topic of elasticity.
This is seen in a workshop by Yazzan Al Ghazzawi titled “Structuring the Arab Screenplay”, where participants will study the authenticity of narratives in SAE, in Dubai. The storyline continues in Doha where participants will experiment with music production.
“Sonic Jeel” is the brainchild of Simone and Michael from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) arts. To that very rhythm, the team at MAAT will host a contemporary dance workshop in the heart of Cairo.
Sharing the wealth knowledge is at the forefront here. Nuqat’s 10th year bends the idea of borders into new shapes where experiences can flow across, freely. The malleability of the mind and borders are at play here.
Register for the conference and find the full schedule at nuqat.me and follow Nuqat on Instagram @nuqat for the latest updates.
All images courtesy of Nuqat.
