9th March & 10th March 2022, 9 AM – 12 PM
Room 281
Upon Registration Only

This workshop explores various technological practices through the lens of mythical/irrational structures as a tool to disrupt the western imaginary and logic. Through discussions and experimentations, we will trace speculative narratives of technology and machinery back to premodern cosmologies.

In Islamic traditions, occult practices depend heavily on a numerology known as “Al-Jafr,” the science of numbers claimed to be taught by Imam-Ali. The simple idea is that numbers are stored in the time/space fabric of the universe and can be called on to represent different elements. For example, the planet’s moves and positions that can be calculated based on its rotation reveal astrological information. It is believed that by using rational mathematics, you can calculate such physical elements, as well as calculate and manipulate other spiritual or mystical elements that are in control of or connected to the physical world.

Al-Awfaq, also known as “magic squares” are algorithmic structures used to carry out such calculations. They are believed to process and channel mystic powers in order to manifest them in a physical form. These algorithmic squares are the base of any talisman’s drawing on material varying from paper to animal skin and plant leaves. The talisman is the code that embodies the non-physical calculation of mystic power/energy/information.

Computer machines are built of a combination of circuit boards made out of silicon, ceramics, copper, gold, and other materials. These circuits run by regulating electrical signals using mathematical algorithms that define certain rational processes in order to calculate specific operations, and deliver logical results. To define and write such algorithms you have to code and embody them inside the material part (the circuit).

Participants should have basic knowledge of creative coding and prototyping tools such as Touchdesigner, processing, openFrameworks, etc., and are required to bring their laptops or tablets with 2D or 3D visualization software installed.

This event is an in-person event for the VCUarts Qatar community only. Please use the registration button to register.

Within this dividuation, this project focuses on the voice, speech and language – exploring the role of speech translation software and their effects when used on the society of East Jerusalem. Here, speech operated softwares, although extremely advanced, remain deeply flawed due to the complexity of the Arabic language and its dialects, causing glitches and mistranslations. Four softwares and their flaws are explored: Layered Voice Analysis 6.50, Athena, Facebook’s Neural Machine Translation and Google Assistant.

‘On Behalf of the Voice’ therefore emphasizes that the language that we speak and the dialects in which we speak, retains a level of resolution that the AI software does not. The project looks into the internal spatial cartography of the Arabic-Speaking tongue to propose a dialectal map and an architecture of resistance against softwares of control.

My project fits in with both axes of ‘State of Change’ and ‘The Department of Disinformation’, focusing on digital softwares and language, new systems and technologies – while also emphasizing colonial realities, and a fight for indigenous knowledge (in my case, the beauty in Arabic-speaking tongues).

Following different stories of TCKs from the SWANA (South West Asian/North African) region, Cultural Misfits uses poetry and illustration as a vehicle to portray several kinds of conceptual and pragmatic dilemmas about migration. Through their journey of exploring their unique diasporic influences, empowerment is found in embracing duality.

• 10th March 2022, 2 PM – 3 PM
• Atrium
• Upon Registration Only

“Designing From Within” is about adopting the biological terms endogenous and endemic as principles for setting just design practices. Through a reflection on Design’s mistakes and questionable methods, Paolo Cardini will invite us to rethink the role of design and designers in our society moving across the complex matrix that runs from global awareness to local identities and from future thinking to present actions.

This event is an in-person event for the VCUarts Qatar community only that will be streamed live. Members of the public are welcome to ask questions in a moderated chat, at the end of each session. Please use the registration button to register and receive a link to your chosen event.

• 10th March 2022, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
• Atrium
• Upon Registration Only

The canonical history of twentieth-century architecture and design in the English language is, like most histories, a constructed and partial view of reality. Yet it has often been perpetuated by its authors as a universal narrative of modernism consisting of a lineup of architects and designers, often Euro-American men, a progression of styles, and a sequence of masterworks. This reductionist view of history expires as soon as it is brought forth, as new information constantly emerges on that which was left out from narratives previously presented as complete.

Merely adding “newly found” architects and designers or their designs in an effort to make the existing narrative “global” without radically rethinking the very structures that underpin this reading of history do not suffice. New critical histories of design are not to replace one hierarchical narrative with another.

This proposed timeline is presented in two formats when launched in the context of Tasmeem Doha 2022. The timeline visualizes a partial history of architecture and design focusing on Latin America and the Arab World enriched by the inclusion of a slew of geographically diverse political and cultural benchmarks from around the rest of the world. It is anchored in the idea that any view of history is always provisional. There is no finite reading nor any claim to a “complete history” here.

In this talk, Mohamed Elshahed, the curator of the project, will present the timeline and discuss the conceptual ideas that produced it.

Mohamed Elshahed will be giving this talk virtually to a live audience. Seats are limited and are only open to VCUarts Qatar or Education city students, faculty, or alumni. In-person attendees must follow VCUarts Qatar guidelines related to COVID-19.

This event will be streamed live. Members of the public are welcome to ask questions in a moderated chat, at the end of each session.

• 9th March & 10th March 2022, 9 AM – 12 PM
• Room 213
• Upon Registration Only

An online graffiti lesson, a vestural street art tour, a hands-on graffiti, and how to use street art/art in general, in a time of conflict. This is a masterclass with a renowned street artist. The team joins zoom calls on both days. The first day is an introduction to street art, its history, the artist & artist’s story. Everyone gets to develop their own tags. On the second day, we develop more tags and ideas to be used in a time of conflict and showcase these ideas together. This is followed by a Q & A and a general talk on art.

Participants are required to bring marker paper, pencils, erasers, sketching pens, and markers (such as Liquitex, Prismacolor, or similar).

This event is an in-person event for the VCUarts Qatar community only that will be streamed live. Members of the public are welcome to ask questions in a moderated chat, at the end of each session. Please use the registration button to register and receive a link to your chosen event.

• 9th March & 10th March 2022, 9 AM – 12 PM
• Room 215
• Upon Registration Only

The workshop gathers visual prompts from the Liwan Archival Library for participants to generate new illustrated characters. The aim is to reimagine and create a collection of illustrated characters that are rooted in local and regional picture book publications, as opposed to external trends and styles. The process contributes to local visual culture, which can encompass many applications, including picture books, animation, gaming aesthetics, editorial illustration, surface design, and other illustrative applications. The workshop begins with a mashup of prompts from the Liwan Archive Library. Participants will ignite new combinations and ways of representing faces, characters, and their worlds. The process uses limited colors, focuses on form, and considers key illustration techniques. The second session will evolve the illustrations to completion in digital format.

Participants are required to bring their own laptops with Photoshop or Procreate.

This event is an in-person event for the VCUarts Qatar community only. Please use the registration button to register.