Storytelling Session
Who is this for: All ages.
What you will gain: During the Biennale exhibition, NJOKOBOK BAR is activated by a series of storytelling sessions, which are inspired by the Arabic traditions of popular literature and the role of the hakawati. Hakawati means “storyteller” in Arabic and describes people who go around coffee shops and souks to engage audiences with their tales. NJOKOBOK has invited different hakawati to share stories that are meaningful to their lives and convey their respective cultural traditions.
Speakers
NJOKOBOK
For over three decades, artist, architect, and educator Apolonija Šušteršič has shown a longstanding commitment to social and spatial practice in contemporary art. Šušteršič’s projects are embedded within communities and take shape through a constant flow of exchange between different constituencies. The title of Šušteršič’s recurrent projects Suggestion for the (Next) Day (2000–ongoing) is reflective of her dedication to explorations of present-day living environments as a means of producing alternative possibilities for the future. Education is integral to the artist’s practice, and she is the founder of the MFA program Art and Public Space at the Oslo National Academy of Arts. In 2016 Šušteršič and chef and community activist Youssou Diop started the long-term project NJOKOBOK, initially in Slovenia and Senegal and then in Norway. Meaning “You are welcome/We share it” in the Wolof language, NJOKOBOK is a restaurant and a community space in one of Oslo’s rapidly changing neighborhoods.
Abdel Majeed Al-Roudhan
Abdel Majeed Al-Roudhan (1986) is a photographer, passionate about everyday situations within different social contexts. He is inspired by street life and public spaces, landscapes, as well as intimate moments of people’s private lives. He seeks to document the affairs of society and the changes that occur in it as a whole, often searching for the beauty and mystery inherent within and around us, and for the experiences and stories behind them. Through his practice, Al-Roudhan shares emotions and experiences, using art as a tool to expand our perceptions and training the eye to notice the beauty that surrounds us.
This storytelling session is dedicated to how photography can capture everyday moments and be a tool of analysis and amplification of our surroundings, focusing on realities of Riyadh.