"Liberating History" -  Present Futures: Sci-Fi and Social Ecology

The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern Universityis an engine that drives questioning, experimentation, and collaboration across fields of study, with visual arts at the center. Located on Northwestern’s lakefront campus in Evanston, The Block engages audiences from across the Chicago region with exhibitions, films, and programs that spark critical thinking and creativity.A collection of more than 6,000 works fuels teaching, learning, and research across the university, supporting a rotating exhibition program grounded in Northwestern’s curriculum. Welcoming over 40,000 visitors each year, The Block works in collaboration with artists, scholars, students, and community partners to present art and ideas that inspire reflection and dialogue.F﻿ree parking infoThe Block is free and open to all.

The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University

"Present Futures: Sci-Fi and Social Ecology" is a program of short films guest curated by Róisín Tapponi of the Habibi Collective.

&quot;Liberating History&quot; online screening: Habibi Collective Guest-Curated Program IThe second night of the Habibi Collective&#x27;s guest-curated shorts is available <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/liberating-history-inherited-memory-blood-runs-thicker-than-water-tickets-122769939193" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>. Join the Block Museum online for the screening series:&quot;Liberating History: Arab Feminisms and Mediated Pasts &quot;Starting at 7 PM Central Time on October 29th, &quot;Present Futures&quot; will be available to watch on Block&#x27;s Vimeo page for a 24-hour period. Present Futures: Sci-Fi and Social Ecology(Various Artists, 2009-2019, Various Countries, digital, approx. 82 min)Please note: The screening of &quot;Inherited Memory&quot; on Friday, 10/30 will be followed by a pre-recorded discussion between Róisín Tapponi, founder and curator of the Habibi Collective in the U.K., and &quot;Liberating History&quot; series curators Simran Bhalla and Malia Haines-Stewart. About the films:&quot;Present Futures&quot; is the first of two shorts programs guest-curated by the Habibi Collective, a digital archive and curatorial platform based in London, focused on femxle filmmaking from the Middle East and North Africa. This screening features short films by women that imagine futures and forms of resilience in a time of climate violence. The films include Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour’s In Vitro, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi short about loss and revival. Each film explores how the climate crisis intersects with ongoing questions of inheritance and resistance in the Arab world. Submarine(Mounia Akl, 2016, Lebanon, 20 min)In Vitro(Larissa Sansour &amp; Søren Lind, 2019, Palestine/UK, 28 min)Before I Forget(Mariam Mekiwi, 2018, Egypt/Germany, 31 min)The films in &quot;Present Futures: Sci-Fi and Social Ecology &quot; appear with permission from the artists About the series:Liberating History: Arab Feminisms and Mediated Pasts celebrates Arab women filmmakers. The films draw on archival material, Islamic visual culture, and ethnographic practice to bring a decolonial and feminist perspective to personal and national pasts. The series includes path-breaking films such as Heiny Srour’s Leila and the Wolves, which centers Arab women’s struggles in the region’s modern history, and Selma Baccar’s Fatma 75, an essay film combining history and fantasy, as well as other rare and recent selections from the Middle East and North Africa. The series will also feature two nights of short films curated by the Habibi Collective. Co-presented by The Block Museum of Art with support from the Middle East and North African Studies Program at NU and Cultural Services of the French Embassy

Film still from In Vitro (2019) Larissa Sansour &amp; Søren Lind

Róisín Tapponi is a curator, writer, editor, and researcher currently based in London.In 2018 she founded <a href="https://www.roisintapponi.com/new-page" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Habibi Collective</a>, a digital archive and curatorial platform for MENA women’s filmmaking. She is currently developing the first independent streaming service for MENA cinema, SHASHA Movies Ltd. Tapponi has directed four regional film festivals, including Independent Iraqi Film Festival (IIFF). She has curated programmes on MENA filmmaking in galleries, academic institutions, festivals and cinemas across the world. Tapponi currently works at The Mosaic Rooms, a gallery in Kensington dedicated to contemporary Arab art.

Bodies of Work: Documentary Media MFA Showcase (Night One)

Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University

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"Liberating History" - Present Futures: Sci-Fi and Social Ecology

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"Liberating History" - Present Futures: Sci-Fi and Social Ecology

More events from The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University

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