Join the curator for a conversation with Foundland Collective about the importance of alternative storytelling and “counter-archives” in an increasingly complex and media-saturated world. Foundland Collective was formed in 2009 by South African Lauren Alexander and Syrian Ghalia Elsrakbi and since 2014 has been based between Amsterdam and Cairo. The duo collaboration explores under-represented political and historical narratives by working with archives via art, design, writing, educational formats, video making, and storytelling. Throughout their development, the duo has critically reflected upon what it means to produce politically engaged work from their position as non-Western artists working between Europe and the Middle East. This program is offered as part of The Studio, the Freer and Sackler’s contemporary art virtual space.
Ghalia Elsrakbi (1978, Damascus, SYR) was based in the Netherlands until 2014, before relocating to Cairo, Egypt where she teaches at the American University. After completing a Masters in Design at the Sandberg Institute Amsterdam, she followed a research post-graduate at Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht (2010).
Lauren Alexander (1983, Cape Town, ZAR) lives and works in Amsterdam. After completing a Masters in Design at the Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, she pursued an MFA at the Dutch Art Institute (DAI) in Arnhem (2011). She tutors in the Graphic Design bachelor and master program of the Royal Academy of Arts in the Hague (KABK), as well as at the University of the Underground, master program at the Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam.
Carol Huh is curator of contemporary art at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. Huh focuses on current artistic production related to Asia through exhibitions, acquisitions, and public programs.