Art in Times of War : Threading Spaces of Displacement, Exile and Genocide

Addressing questions of war, displacement, and genocide through artistic interventions, this event offers an evening on art and dialogue. Among the participants, Maha Al-Daya is co-hosted by Sciences Po and Columbia University as part of PAUSE, a programme of the French government that supports scientists and artists in exile by facilitating their hosting in higher education institutions or cultural institutions.

The event includes :

• an art exhibition from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m,
• followed by a discussion moderated by Hiba Bou Akar from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Bou Akar, an expert in urban planning and conflict, will lead a discussion on how cities and communities navigate post-conflict spaces. The participating artists, Mohamad Hafeda, Nathalie Harb and Maha Al-Daya, use their work to explore themes of identity, spatial justice, and the resilience of communities affected by war and displacement.

Moderator and artists

Hiba Bou Akar, Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination, is an Associate Professor in the Urban Planning program at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University in New York City. She has founded and leads Columbia’s Post-Conflict Cities Lab. Bou Akar is the author of the award-winning book, For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut’s Frontiers (2018). She is currently working at the Institute on Sedimentary Urbanization: The Afterlives of Dead Geographies, a book project that investigates how low-income Lebanese families and Syrian refugees access affordable housing in infrastructures in Beirut’s peripheries.

Maha Al-Daya is a Palestinian artist from Gaza. In addition to her painting and multidisciplinary artistic practice, she is also engaged in the design and embroidery of traditional Palestinian dresses. Her work explores themes of identity, memory, and resilience, often reflecting the socio-political realities of Palestinian life. Over the years, Al-Daya has participated in numerous prestigious art residencies, including the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2012), appointed by the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem, and the Summer Academy at the Suha Shoman Institute, Darat al Funun, Amman (2001), under the nomination of the Khalil Sakakini Center in Ramallah.

Mohamad Hafeda is an artist, writer, and academic whose work centres on spatial justice through community engagement and participatory architecture and art practices. His research focuses on borders, displacement, refuge, representation, and spatial rights. He is an Associate Professor at The Bartlett, UCL, and a founding partner of Febrik, a collaborative platform for participatory art and design research working with underrepresented communities in contexts of migration and refuge. In recognition of his contributions to socially engaged art, Hafeda was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2021 in the Visual and Performing Arts category. He is the author of Negotiating Conflict in Lebanon: Bordering Practices in a Divided Beirut (2019), and the co-author of Creative Refuge (2014), and Action of Street / Action of Room: A Directory of Public Actions (2016). He has also co-edited Narrating Beirut from its Borderlines (2011) and Border Fictions (forthcoming). Hafeda’s films include The Time While Waiting (2022) and Sewing Borders (2017). His projects, developed in collaboration with communities, NGOs, the United Nations, and cultural institutions, have been featured in exhibitions and residencies at major venues such as the Serpentine Galleries, South London Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, Eye Filmmuseum, and Beirut Art Center. 

Nathalie Harb is a multidisciplinary artist and designer who reimagines everyday spaces through public interventions, installations, and set designs. Her work explores the concepts of home, shelter, and personal agency by hacking existing environments and offering alternative uses for our habitats. Since 2009, Nathalie has collaborated with a diverse group of artists, designers, and architects on projects spanning urban spaces, film, theater, exhibitions, and events. Her work has been showcased internationally, supported by organizations such as the Goethe Institute, UNESCO, and the British Council. Nathalie holds an MA in Cinema and Audio-Visual Practices from ALBA and an MA in Design Performance and Practice from Central Saint Martins. She splits her time between Paris  and Beirut.

Event organization

This event is co-organized by the Institute for the Arts & Creation, the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination, the Columbia Paris Global Center, and the PAUSE program.