Nagham Abu Assaf ~ Keywords: moving image, writing, languages, memory, power dynamics, pause, untranslatability, multiplicities, learning-in-relation
Nagham Abu Assaf is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She studied fine arts in Damascus, Syria, earned her MA from Damascus University in 2018, and completed her studies at the Dutch Art Institute (Art Praxis) in 2024. Her diverse practice spans video, installation, painting, printmaking, and writing. In her installations, she frequently combines objects, sound, and poetic text to craft environments where fragmented stories and sensory experiences converge. In her recent work, she explores language and the processes of translation and non-translation as tools for creating alternative pathways that challenge conventional notions of representation while simultaneously contesting the hegemony of dominant power structures and colonial knowledge systems.
Nagham@DAI:
*Learn more about Nagham Abu Assaf's 20 minute performance What resides between the lines? for WHERE THE MOON IS UP ~ DAI's AEROPONIC ACTS 2023 at Centrale Fies, Dro, Italy.
*Learn more about Nagham Abu Assaf's written MA thesis (DAI, 2024): The “Other” in Translation: On Representation, Power, and the Untranslatable
*During her journey with DAI, Nagham made significant contributions to: COOP Summit 2022 ~ Watering, Wandering: An Anthology of Echoes as well as COOP Summit 2023 ~ Li Li Ko Ko Fəstival of 100 Centers
*Follow Nagham's "Life after DAI" via https://naghamaassaf.com/