aemi is proud to present ‘TOGETHER WE CAN STOP THIS SHIT’, a masterclass from DISSOLUTIONS ’25 artist in focus Basma al-Sharif on humour as a political tool in artist filmmaking. Basma will lead participants in a brief writing exercise after giving an informal talk on the role of satire across her practice.
Working nomadically between the Middle East, Europe, and North America, Basma al-Sharif – an artist and filmmaker of Palestinian heritage – explores cyclical political histories. In films and installations that move backward and forward in history, between place and non-place, she confronts the legacy of colonialism with satire, doubt, and hope.
In a moment of immense despair, this masterclass traces humour through Basma’s work and engages participants in how we can turn to satire in the face of hopelessness, humor as a weapon against silence, and what space art can still offer when the cultural sector seems to be collapsing on the dawn of a live streamed genocide.
BASMA AL-SHARIF BIO
Basma received an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007, was a resident of the Fondazione Antonio Ratti in 2009, and the Pavillon Neuflize OBC at the Palais de Tokyo in 2014-15. She received a Jury prize at the Sharjah Biennial in 2009, the Visual Arts Grant from the Fundación Botín in 2010, Mophradat’s Consortium Commissions in 2018, and is currently a fellow of the Berlin Artistic Research Grant Programme for 2022-2023. In 2024, Basma al-Sharif was nominated for the Aware Award. Al-Sharif’s major exhibitions include: The Hannah Ryggen Triennal, The Place I was Condemned to Live, de Appel Amsterdam, the 5th edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the Ruttenberg Contemporary Photography Series for the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Mondays at MOMA, CCA Glasgow, the Whitney Biennial, Here and Elsewhere at the New Museum, Berlin Documentary Forum, and Manifesta 8.
Her films have been screened in the international film festivals of Locarno, Berlin, Mar del Plata, Milan, London, Toronto, New York, Montreal, and Yamagata amongst others. Her first exhibition at Imane Farès, On Love & Other Landscapes, with Yazan Khalili, was held in 2013. In 2025 Basma al-Sharif will be part of the Gotebörg Biennial. Her monograph Semi-Nomadic Debt-Ridden Bedouins will be published by Lenz in May 2025
This event is supported by Screen Ireland, as part of their Skills Development Funding.
This event is free and places can be reserved via the Eventbrite link on this page. To attend screenings at DISSOLUTIONS you must book a day or weekend festival ticket. Day or weekend festival ticket holders can attend discussions/masterclasses without having to book a place via Eventbrite.
