• Conference is hybrid open to the public and will be held between April 19-20

Abu Dhabi: NYU Abu Dhabi’s (NYUAD) al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art will convene a symposium titled The Generative Archive: Research, Methods, and Practices on April 19-20. Open to the public, the conference explores the role of archives as vibrant hubs for discovery beyond their traditional role in serving scholars, and features a dynamic lineup of experts. This includes a keynote address by historian and archivist Dr. Emad AbouGhazi, former Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Culture, and former Minister of Culture in Egypt.

The symposium will investigate the combination of practical and conceptual challenges involved in archival work – and particularly archival work around Arab art histories in a global context – in the 21st Century. Participants will explore the use of archives outside the confines of academia, asking how they can be used for education, communal memory, and research. And of increasing relevance, what do digital environments enable, and what do they foreclose?

Panel topics include Approaches to Archival Architecture and Ownership, Reviving the Past into an Imagined Future, and Institutional Archival Practices: Thinking about Use, Access, and Survival. Participants include Head of Global History of Art research, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA), Paris Zahia Rahmani; Curator of Arabic Collections, The British Library Daniel Lowe; and Senior Program Officer, Getty Foundation Miguel de Baca. The range of insights they present will highlight how archive analysis can spark new interests and inspire different ways of engaging with history.

Commenting on the symposium, Director of al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at NYUAD, and a co-convenor of the event Salwa Mikdadi said: “The symposium aims to be a catalyst for a paradigm shift, changing archives from passive repositories to lively, dynamic tools that enable everyone to interact with history and contribute to future discourse.  This idea reinforces al Mawrid’s ambition to become a key resource for scholars, independent researchers, and educational and art organizations.”

al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art is a research center and archive at NYUAD dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the visual arts of the Arab world. Through a range of activities that include fellowships, research projects, conferences, and colloquia, as well as the construction of a unique digital archive, al Mawrid aims to be a major resource for scholars, independent researchers, and for educational and art institutions. The Center is part of the NYUAD Research Institute and works in collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Division.

The symposium will be held at the NYUAD Campus Center C2 East Forum. For further information and to register, please visit this link.

About NYU Abu Dhabi

www.nyuad.nyu.edu
NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. Times Higher Education ranks NYU among the top 30 universities in the world, making NYU Abu Dhabi the highest-ranked university in the UAE and MENA region. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 120 countries and speak over 100 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.