SIGHTLINES

At a time when the social and spatial fabric of cities is being redrawn by forces of rapid development, cultural commodification, and spatial inequality, Sightlines positions artistic practice as a crucial mode of urban inquiry. It begins from the premise that cities are not merely static backdrops, but living terrains of memory, resistance, desire, and imagination—and that the arts hold unique capacities to navigate, and reimagine these dimensions.

The curatorial approach treats the arts not simply as representational tools or embellishments to space, but as epistemological and spatial practices: ways of knowing, sensing, and intervening in the world. By bringing artistic practices into dialogue with questions of community and place-making, Sightlines seeks to complicate conventional narratives of urban development, and instead opens space for more relational, situated, and affective understandings of the built environment. Foregrounding how artistic expression in public space becomes a form of place-making, storytelling, and resistance.

SIGHTLINES is a public program initiated by BIAS-AME, that investigates the generative role of artistic practice in reading, interpreting, and shaping the socio-cultural and spatial dimensions of public urban life. Framed around the concept of “sightlines”—lines of vision that connect, orient, and reveal—the program curates a space for interdisciplinary dialogue, probing how the arts not only respond to, but actively participate in, the making of place.

Functioning as a bridge between the pedagogical program of BIAS-AME and the public domain, the program embraces a multiplicity of learning formats and modes of engagement—ranging from workshops and screenings to urban walks and public talks—each creating opportunities for situated learning.

Rather than privileging a single medium or thematic, Sightlines is structured through a plurality of practices and perspectives, each offering a different entry point into the conversation.

Program:

Writing on the Wall - Visual Arts Workshop
By Agnes Michalczyk | 18, 19, 20 September | Bayt al-Saliba

This workshop explores how visual practices such as murals, street art, and site-specific interventions can serve as tools for navigating and reimagining urban space. Working directly with the city's surfaces and public interfaces, participants explore image-making as a way to engage local narratives, mark presence, and reclaim overlooked or contested spaces.

Stories from Space to Body, and Back - Performance Art Workshop
By Chirine al-Ansary | 25, 26, 27 September | al-Khalifa Community Center
This workshop delves into the dynamic relationship between our built environment and our inner world. Through physical and creative exploration, we will investigate how the spaces we move through—whether streets, squares, gardens, bridges, homes, neighborhoods, or monuments—intersect with our personal and collective histories. How do these spaces shape the stories we tell about ourselves? From these inquiries, participants will develop performance methodologies rooted in their discoveries. The workshop places particular emphasis on spoken word and narrative writing, as expressed through space, body, and voice.

Urban Imaginaries - Screening + Discussion | Thursday, 2 October | Cinema Zawya
in collaboration with MAQAMAT, a program by A Kiss in the Desert

The screening centers film practice as an exploratory tool for engaging the urban experience, treating the moving image as a mode of research. Through curated selections and post-screening discussions, the program explores how filmmakers navigate urban space and how the city, in turn, is revealed, shaped, and reimagined through the cinematic lens.

SIGHTLINES: COMMUNITY, PLACE AND ARTISTIC PRACTICE
Public Symposium | 4 October | Khalifa Community Center

The public symposium culminates the program by drawing international voices from North African art spaces into the dialogue with local ones, offering comparative insights into how artistic and spatial practices are evolving across different contexts and communities. With insights from Fatima Bint Rassoul from RAW Art Material (Senegal), Rana al-Nemr from Contemporary Image Collective CIC (Egypt), Darlyne Komukama from 32 Degrees East (Uganda), Ola Hassanain (Sudan).