Nazar: A Theory of the Evil Eye

Mahmoud Al Shaer

Mahmoud Al-Shaer is a Gazan poet, curator, and editor who, until October 2023, was deeply involved in cultural work in Gaza, leading initiatives like Magazine 28, Gallery 28, and coordinating the cultural program at Al Ghussein Cultural House in Gaza’s old city. He was a guest curator of PalFest 2023 and co-editor of ArabLit Quarterly’s “Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!” issue, published in May 2024. Currently, he is a visiting researcher and fellow under the PAUSE Program at the Collège de France, affiliated with Professor Didier Fassin’s chair ( Moral Questions and Political Issues in Contemporary Societies ). He is a writer, editor, curator, and cultural practitioner. Prior to his appointment at the Collège de France, Al-Shaer was deeply involved in Gaza’s cultural scene. He is the founder and Executive Director of 28 Magazine and 28 Gallery, as well as a co-founder of initiatives including the Dahaleez Collective, Khuta Book Publishing, and the Qurtoba Cultural Coalition. He has served as a cultural operator and curator for organizations such as the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and the Goethe-Institut Ramallah, and as a member of the editorial board for HKW Berlin’s New Alphabet School. He has also served on juries for the A.M. Qattan Foundation and the Taawon Association. His intellectual and artistic practice focuses on literature, editorial curation, archives, collective memory, and community engagement in times of historical crisis.

Nasrin Himada

Nasrin Himada is a Palestinian curator and writer. Their practice is heavily influenced by their long-term friendships and by their many on-going collaborations with artists, filmmakers and poets. Nasrin’s ongoing project, For Many Returns, experiments with writing as an act dictated by love, and typifies their current curatorial interests, which foreground desire as transformation, and liberation through many forms. Their writing on contemporary art has appeared in national and international contemporary art publications, including Canadian Art, The Funambulist, C Magazine, MICE, and Fuse and they have collaborated with film festivals and art institutions across Canada and the US. Nasrin currently holds the position of Associate Curator at Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University.

Marlihan Lopez

Marlihan Lopez is an Afro-Caribbean feminist memory worker and community organizer committed to unearthing, preserving, and honouring the cultural and epistemic productions Black women and gender-expansive people. Currently pursuing a PhD in the Individualized Program in Fine Arts, her research is rooted in Black feminist thought and speculative methodologies, as well as abolitionist and anti-colonial praxis. She is also the Events and Community Outreach Coordinator at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, and Research Assistant at Dark Opacities Lab.