حركة

المختبر التجريبي للفن و الفكر العربي

Haraka

Experimental Lab for Arab Art and Social Thought

Haraka: Experimental Lab for Arab Art and Social Thought is an interdisciplinary and dynamic space that bridges the arts and social sciences in the newly established Arab Center for the Study of Art (with PI Salwa Mikdadi and Co-PI Shamoon Zamir at NYUAD).

Haraka is a multivalent word in Arabic that means “movement” in the broadest sense of the word (embodied, political, and social) and also means “diacritic” the kind of symbol that accompanies Arabic letters in written form and is fundamental to giving meaning to the language.

Drawing upon new understandings of Arab and global social thought, this cluster will develop three research projects: ‘Tracing Migrations,’ an oral history research project which documents the lives, careers, and contributions of artists and cultural producers in the GCC region; ‘Teaching Global Social Theory,’ a pedagogy research project that reworks the centers and peripheries of social theory; and ‘Plurilogue,’ a mobile conversational platform based on engaging artists and social scientists working in/on the region in Arabic and English.

Through research, archives, pedagogy, and exchange platforms that activate the Global Network of NYU while simultaneously building connection to the thinkers, artists, and alumni in the region, Haraka is a space for movement and flow but also for a more nuanced reading of the politics of translation and knowledge production.

For access to some of our programming visit the Haraka Experimental Lab youtube channel.