Events
I Will Always Be Looking For You – A Queer Anthology on Arab Art, © Haven for Artists
Address
Villa Vassilieff
21, avenue du Maine
75015 Paris
21, avenue du Maine
75015 Paris
Accessibility
Montparnasse – Bienvenüe metro station, Exit 2, Lines 4, 6, 12 and 13
Villa Vassilieff is accessible to visitors using wheeled devices or who have mobility difficulties thanks to special facilities (access ramp, adapted toilets, and a lift).
In addition, several reserved parking spaces are available close to the Villa Vassilieff:
• in front of 4 rue d’Alençon, 75015 Paris
• in front of 7 rue Antoine Bourdelle, 75015 Paris
• in front of 23 rue de l’Arrivée, 75015 Paris
Consult the map of adapted parking spaces in Paris here.
As part of its events programme at the Villa Vassilieff, AWARE is pleased to invite you on Tuesday, December 9, to the launch of I Will Always Be Looking For You – A Queer Anthology on Arab Art, published by Haven for Artists. Part of NEST, AWARE’s Network for Empowerment, Solidarity, and Transregionality, Haven for Artists is a cultural feminist organization based in Beirut, Lebanon. Co-Editor Yasmine Rifaii and Project Lead Dayna Ash, together with Ghiwa Sayegh, who provided editorial support for the publication, will present the book and discuss the genealogy behind its creation.
I Will Always Be Looking For You gathers the work of 31 artists from 13 Arabic-speaking countries, with literary contributions by 24 commissioned writers from across the region and its diaspora. The bilingual anthology spans poetry, essays, fiction, and experimental writing, with each text engaging directly with the artwork it accompanies. This landmark publication brings together intergenerational artistic voices to expand the definition of queerness in the Arab world not as a fixed identity, but as a generative force, a method, a rupture, and a refusal.
Practical information
Tuesday, December 9, at 6:30 pm
Free entry with registration here
The conversation will be held in English
Dayna Ash (she/they) is an intersectional feminist, performing artist, writer, and the Founder & Executive Director of Haven for Artists, a cultural feminist organization working at the intersection of art and activism. Dayna is an autodidact academic whose work in advocacy and arts is rooted in intersectional and de-colonial queer practices for the creation of alternative structures and a community-based approach to fighting injustice and oppression.
Yasmine Rifaii is an artist from El Mina, Lebanon. Her practice traverses editorial, curatorial, architectural, and visual art disciplines. She is the Creative Director of Haven for Artists, a Beirut-based cultural feminist organization, and the co-founder of Al Hayya, a print magazine and online platform dedicated to the Arab woman.
Ghiwa Sayegh (they/them) is an anarcha-queer writer, independent publisher, and archivist from Beirut. They are the founding editor of Kohl: a Journal for Body and Gender Research. They have an MA in gender studies from Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis.
Haven for Artists (HFA) is a cultural feminist organization based in Beirut, Lebanon. Working at the intersection of art and activism, Haven is a physical and digital platform supporting cultural works and knowledge production rooted in intersectional feminism, gender and racial justice, and decolonial practices. Founded in 2011 by artists and activists, Haven began as a mobile body that hosted festivals, performances, artist residencies, shelter programs, and exhibitions promoting local and regional artists. Growing into an art house, Haven is a safe space to expand and sustain freedom of expression and the equitable exchange of knowledge, tools, and skills for unrepresented and marginalized communities.
