POUSH is excited to announce the first international edition of Dialogues in Contemporary Art, also known in Arabic as Zawaya Wa Afkar, presented by the Visual Arts Commission (VAC) of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture.

The event will be featured as part of the POUSH Talks series, a collection of conferences dedicated to exploring the themes that shape today’s creative and cultural disciplines. This collaboration will further strengthen the partnership between the VAC and POUSH, which has already delivered several successful residency programs.


Programme overview :

Curated by Anna Kirikova and Assistant Curator Daria Ozerskaya, the theme of this edition, When the Earth Began to Look at Itself takes inspiration from a land art piece by Saudi-based Syn architects for the desert site of AlUla. This theme invites us to reconsider our relationship with the Earth through contemporary artistic perspectives. The three conversations will dive into different approaches to reviving our sensibility toward the planet, creating new ways of engaging with the milieu of life, and reimagining our shared future on Earth.

Saturday, 15th February 2025
POUSH (At La Coupole)
Free Entry
Reservation Required: Click here to RSVP


We are on a planet different from the one known, described, painted or photographed by our ancestors.
Emanuele Coccia                                         

One of the first photographic images of the Earth was made by the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon in 1972. Viewed from around 29,400 km above the Earth's surface, the ‘Blue Marble' has become one of the most iconic and reproduced images in our history. This was how humanity first encountered the Earth as a whole.
An isolated image, presented as an abstract and seemingly unproblematic space, appears to have demystified a centuries-long planetary imagination. And yet, many artists and thinkers of today strive to rekindle the sense of wonder that arises when we re-attune our attention to the ways the Earth reveals itself. 
The Saudi desert of AlUla is one of the places where human logic and recognition give way to forces beyond our control, thus strengthening our sensorial abilities. When the Earth Began to Look at Itself references the work by Saudi-based Syn Architects — a large-scale architectural form created for this desert site, a linear feature resembling that of a fault line caused by the tectonic plate shift. What it also references is the way the Earth is becoming aware of itself — through its materiality, processes, and enfolded forms of life. 
With the contributions of artists and thinkers from Saudi Arabia and France, the programme aims to challenge our understanding of the Earth beyond the imposition of strictly human values on the Globe. What protocols of attention could we envisage through various artistic practices that help us sense the Earth anew?
It has been some time since the ball we threw at the wall came bouncing back at us. The Earth has contacted us — how are we going to respond?
-Anna Kirikova, Programme’s Curator


10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Conversation 1: 

THE NON-HUMAN PROTAGONISTS re-imagines the Earth as a repository of subjective memories and personal experiences, not only of humans but  of all the makers of the Earth (Latour). Exploring artistic and intellectual strategies of looking into ways of becoming more aware of the multiple worlds and modes of existence that constitute the fabric of life on the planet. 

A conversation between Ayman Zedani, Frédérique Aït-Touati and Hicham Berrada. 
Moderated by Anna Kirikova.


1:30 PM – 2:50 PM
Conversation 2: 

NOT OF THIS WORLD focuses on alternative world-building and terraforming as a means of artistic production. Creating speculative worlds and experiences as acts of re-attachment with the Earth. Does what is real necessarily have to be in physical form?

A conversation between Grégory Chatonsky, Arnaud Morand and Virginie Ittah. 
Moderated by Anna Kirikova


3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Conversation 3: 

UNFOLDING (THE) EARTH delves into strategies for revealing the unseen materialities of the Earth. Sensitive-based art and corporeal experiences that provide for a renewal of our modes of attuning to physical connections we have towards the planet. 

A conversation between Anaïs Tondeur, Sabine Mirlesse and Sarah Brahim.
Moderated by Anna Kirikova.


4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Cocktail Reception


We look forward to welcoming you to this event on 15th February 2025!

Stay Connected: Follow us on social media for updates on this exciting collaboration and for more details on the program.