THE CUTOUTS AND COLLAGE DAFTAR

We come full circle by inviting the talented Nasir Nasrallah to co-curate the upcoming edition of Daftar Asfar with co-founder Nahla Tabbaa.

Nasir’s practice is one that is socially engaged, sensitive to nostalgic and ‘bygone’ ways of communicating and expressing: letters, notes, telephone calls, sketching, journaling and illustrating. Borrowed from Nasir’s website, and beautifully articulated; ‘…for artist and curator Nasir Nasrallah, making art is about experimenting with and synthesising materials, be they physical objects, ideas or theorems. His work is a highly personal response to his environment and the people and places he encounters. He finds particular inspiration in the physical objects he collects, such as toys and small consumer items, which he feels drawn to use in his work…’

Nasir was also the first to support Daftar Asfar by giving the team his yellow sketchbook, and the whole name and brand of Daftar Asfar has been centered around it ever sense.

For this upcoming edition of Daftar Asfar: The Cutouts and Collages Daftar, the project will undertake a more educational trajectory since both Nahla and Nasir met as colleagues working as part of the education and outreach team at Sharjah Art Foundation.

Nasir has left yellow cut outs on every page of the Daftar, and an envelope of ‘loose’ cut out pieces of paper. Through a series of workshops with children aged 7-12, the concept of keeping a sketchbook, journaling, and developing ideas will be introduced to the participants. From there they will be invited to spend 7 minutes with Daftar Asfar, creating both their own works and an intersection with the next participant.

These workshops will be hosted by various art and youth institutes across the region.

You can learn more about Nasir Nasrallah here.

Video produced by Louie De La Torre, Nasir Nasrallah’s studio, Sharjah, 2019.