• High-profile speaker lineup includes former Minister of Culture in Egypt Dr. Emad AbouGhazi
• Conference is hybrid open to the public and will be held between April 19-20

​Abu Dhabi, April 16, 2024: 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.