Atelier 11 Open Studio
Co-sponsored by L’AiR Arts, the Columbia Global Paris Center and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination.
In celebration of the 150-year history of Atelier 11—originally a sculpture studio that became a creative refuge for artists during the political turmoils of the 20th century—we are pleased to invite you to an Open Studio event that includes the Palestinian artist Maha Al Daya , currently a Displaced Artist Resident at Reid Hall, and the interdisciplinary artist Kiều-Anh Nguyễn from Vietnam.
Sculpting the Invisible with Kiều-Anh Nguyễn
During this open studio, Kiều-Anh Nguyễn will share the research she did on the history of Atelier 11.
Kiều-Anh’s “Olfactory Archive (Project 1: Housing as a Body)”, which examines urban spaces through scent, aligns with the Atelier’s current preservation work, engaging with the history of the place and the surrounding Cité Falguière.
The Path of Pain with Maha Al Daya
Maha Al Daya’s “The Path of Pain” explores Palestinian identity, history, and resistance through traditions of embroidery. Drawing on Palestinian practices of stitching, she transforms evacuation maps—used by many fleeing Gaza—into depictions of displacement and loss.
These maps symbolize the endurance and suffering of the Gazan people. Maps are suspended, encased in glass, mirroring the way evacuation orders rained down from the sky. Elsewhere, words displayed on the Atelier’s walls evoke the graffiti of the First Intifada. Through this project, Blending tradition with the devastation of today’s war, Maha’s embroidery becomes an act of artistic expression and cultural defiance.
Artists
Kiều-Anh Nguyễn sculpts spaces from the invisible yet essential, using scent as a medium for memory tracing and care. Through participatory works and sensory journeys, she will present her site-specific research, recontextualizing the atelier’s histories and inviting audiences to experience time and space in new, immersive ways.
Maha Al-Daya will present her new work, engaging with Palestinian cultural heritage and contemporary realities. Through traditional Palestinian embroidery, she transforms craft into a form of resistance and documentation, shedding light on experiences of displacement and identity. Al-Daya is currently a resident of Reid Hall’s Displaced Artists Initiative co‑sponsored by the Columbia Global Paris Center and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination.
Organizer(s)/Sponsor(s)
L’AiR Arts is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to support intercultural exchange through international arts residency programs. In collaboration with leading arts institutions and professionals, our residency programs support intercultural exchange, research, professional development and contemporary creation – while promoting diversity, inclusion and international understanding through artistic and cultural heritage.
The Columbia Global Paris Center, established at Reid Hall in 2010, is one of Columbia University’s eleven global centers. It aims to promote research, teaching, and transnational collaboration. Through its scholarly and cultural programming, its Atelier podcast, and its civic engagement initiatives, the Paris Global Center strengthens Columbia University’s connections in France and internationally while providing a platform for intellectual exploration of social and environmental issues in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
Each year the Institute for Ideas and Imagination brings together a cohort of 14-15 Fellows, half of them Columbia faculty and post-docs, the other half artists and writers from around the world, to spend a year together in work and conversation. The Institute fosters intellectual and creative diversity unconstrained by medium and discipline through the interaction of the arts and academia.
Columbia Global brings together major global initiatives from across the university including the Columbia Global Centers, Columbia World Projects, the Committee on Global Thought, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, and Undergraduate Global Engagement.
