Tasmeem 2017 - Co-Chair

Tasmeem 2017 “Analogue Living in a Digital World” was a biennial international art and design conference hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, in collaboration with VCU School of the Arts. Tasmeem 2017 Co- Chairs were Assistant Professors Michael Perrone and Marco Bruno of VCUarts Qatar and Assistant Professor John D. Freyer from VCUarts.

The conference hosted more than 500 attendees and included 40 students, faculty and staff from the VCUarts home campus.

Speakers at Tasmeem Doha 2017 include:

  • Qatari-American artist, writer, and filmmaker Sophia Al Maria in conversation with Tina Kukielski, the executive director of Art21. Art 21 is the longest running, award-winning public television and digital media series that introduces millions of people to contemporary art and artists;
  • Andrew Keen, one of the world’s best known and controversial commentators on the digital revolution, and the author of the acclaimed book, “The Internet Is Not The Answer”;
  • Architect, engineer, inventor, educator, activist and MIT professor Carlo Ratti;
  • Associate professor at the Department of Art at the University of Maryland Hasan Elahi;
  • Netherlands-based fashion-tech designer and innovator Anouk Wipprecht;
  • Marquise Stillwell, the founder and principal of Openbox, a New York-based design and innovation consultancy;
  • The Foundland Collective, an art, design and research collective, initiated in 2009 by Lauren Alexander and Ghalia Elsrakbi and based between Cairo and Amsterdam;
  • Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri from the GCC art collective, who recently had an exhibition at VCUarts Qatar’s Gallery on Islamic figurative murals titled, “Muhawwil (Transformer)”;
  • Khalid Albaih, Romanian born, political cartoonist who considers himself a “Virtual Revolutionist.”

“Analogue Living in a Digital World’ brings attention to how ingenuity progresses to innovation and how collective creativity becomes a powerful catalyst to all who use it, build upon it, change it and let it change them. We are indeed proud of our students’ participation, their tenacity, and their willingness to soar beyond the mark.”

Tasmeem 2017 Chairs and Assistant Professors Michael Perrone and Marco Bruno of VCUarts Qatar and Assistant Professor John D. Freyer from VCUarts.