“Hafez’s performances reconfigure the senses, and relations between the body and language”
Prof. Dr. Jessica Winegar, from ‘Dissenting Bodies’
Aesthetic Justice. Multiple voices. Multiple histories.
2065BC
Performance investigating the1884 colonial Congo Conference
Entanglement
The aesthetic regime is a regime of power. Adham Hafez’s practice works within the entanglement of the political and aesthetic regimes, often drawing tools and methods from recent advancements in science history, and the history of knowledge. His projects from curatorial to artistic production battle to uncover what he coins ‘aesthetic injustice’. By addressing ongoing neocolonial power, and practices of alienating minorities, his work engages with alternative canons and aesthetics.
Cairo KitkKat Club
Digital Cabaret-conference on colonialism, pandemics and joy
Kitsch
The notion of kitsch is a symptom of preset judgements on what a ‘proper’ aesthetic should look like. What we dismiss as kitsch is a complex aesthetics system. At the core of Hafez’s curatorial and artistic projects, an investigation of what is seen as kitsch, trashy or camp is central to the work process. Adham Hafez projects try to unsettle our expectations within the contemporary art scene. From children plays for adults, to glamours cabarets about climate change, the projects invite us to reorganize our senses and desires.
In 50 Years Or So
Performance and installation triptych on climate change, and the Suez Canal
Contemporary
Is contemporary a notion, a phenomenon, or a particular aesthetic alignment? A key question at the crux of Adham Hafez’s practices is examining terms such as ‘contemporary’, and scrutinizing their histories and politics, for a better understanding of non-western artistic practices. This investigation continues to unfold in conferences and festivals he curates, in essays he publishes, and lectures he presents internationally.
Adham Hafez is a curator, theorist, historian and artist. His work encompasses postcolonial studies, the Anthropocene and performance, politics of choreography, Arab art history, knowledge production, and climate change. As an artist and a theorist his work has been presented internationally at world renowned venues including Hebbel Am Ufer, Cairo Opera House, MoMA PS1, Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Damascus Opera House, La Mama Theatre, among others. He publishes essays and texts in Arabic, English and French, and he is the founder of HaRaKa Platform, the first Arab platform dedicated to performance studies and choreography, that was established over 15 years ago. He is also the founder of the publication Cairography that translates and publishes essays on dance, performance, politics and choreography from and about the Arabic speaking region. Adham Hafez has received multiple awards for his work, including First Prize for Choreography, and Cultural Entrepreneur of the Year. He is a graduate of New York University, SciencePo Paris, Amsterdam University of the Arts, and Cairo Opera House.
