HIWAR – meaning ‘conversations’ in Arabic, is the outcome of a \nresidency programme organised by the non-profit Jordanian institution Darat al Funun, to celebrate twenty-five years of\n support for the arts. Fourteen artists from the Arab world, Africa, \nAsia, and Latin America – including Turkish artist Asli Çavuşoğlu, South\n African Thabiso Sekgala and Brazilian Jonathas de Andrade – were invited to spend a month in Amman. Trying to stand out from other \nshort residency programmes, HIWAR encouraged the artists to relate not \njust to their new locality, but to their hometowns as well. Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, who opened up the White Cube last summer to a\n public submission process, the resulting show combines works by these artists \nin-residence alongside art from The Khalid Shoman Collection, which \nincludes Emily Jacir, Mona Hatoum, and Walid Raad.
Two upcoming events accompany the curated exhibition, which opened 8 November: a screening of short films from South America on 10 December, selected by film \ncritic Yazan Ashqar and a talk with Dr. Faisal Darraj on 17 December, in which the \nPalestinian literary and cultural critic will share his thoughts on International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
