‘we refuse_d’ brings together fifteen artists to explore the tensions between refusal, endurance, and creation. The exhibition responds to an escalating wave of cancellations, censorship, silencing, and public vilification directed at artists, writers, musicians, and scholars who have taken clear and often courageous stances on war, conflict, and injustice.
‘we refuse_d’ evokes the spirit of the Salon des Refusés, a historical exhibition (1863, Paris) that gave visibility to marginal voices. The title also resonates with Hannah Arendt’s 1943 seminal essay ‘We Refugees’, asserting the shared, situated absurdity and fragile optimism born from displacement, trauma, and exile.
‘we refuse_d’ is produced by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, on the occasion of their 15th anniversary, and presented in partnership with M HKA.
Artists: Jumana Manna, Barış Doğrusöz, Nour Shantout, Samia Halaby, Emily Jacir, Taysir Batniji, yasmine eid-sabbagh (with Tabara Korka Ndiaye and Ndeye Debo Seck), Khalil Rabah, Oraib Toukan, DAAR (Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti), Abdul Hay Mosallam Zarara, Majd Abdelhamid, Dima Srouji, Suha Shoman, and Walid Raad (with Pierre Huyghebaert).
Curated by Nadia Radwan and Vasıf Kortun.