About the LAB:

Who is this Lab for?

Emerging artists in any discipline, but also suitable for any artist at any age who is looking for mentorship to help them develop a new project.

What will the course cover and how it will cover it?
In this course, we will focus on helping the participating artists develop concepts of new projects and figure out ways to execute them. Throughout the course duration, each artist will get to present an idea they have. Through various exercises and group discussions, each artist will be able to take their concept further and start working out strategies to execute it. Even if you don’t have a specific concept in mind, the course could inspire you to develop new ideas and develop them. Such opportunities could provide a sense of community, structure, and incentive to finish a new project. Whether you have large funding for your project or don’t have any, this course will help you figure out a clearer path to take to develop and execute your work. Moreover, you will benefit from seeing the other participating artist’s work as well as getting a closer look at their process.

Every week, each participant will be given a certain assignment (in relationship to the project they want to achieve), and by the end of the course, all participants are expected to have a finished artwork (or a small body of work, depending on their concept). Throughout the various sessions, the participants will be pushed to question their concepts and process and prepare for the execution of their projects. The participants will also have a chance to participate in a group exhibition at Ard.

Please note that this is not a course to develop commercial projects or products.

The course will help participants answer the following questions:

– Why do I want to create this project? What is my relationship to the idea?
– Do I need to do more research?
– What is the medium I plan to use?
– Is it the right medium?
– Do I need to do more research in terms of material?

About the Artist:

Bassem Yousri

Egyptian, born in 1980 in Algeria and based between Cairo, Egypt, and Berlin, Germany.

Bassem Yousri (Egyptian, b. Algeria, 1980) is a visual artist, filmmaker, and art educator working with mixed-media installations in art galleries and public spaces and experimental and documentary films. Yousri leverages sarcasm and irony to criticize common stereotypes and social taboos, presenting pertinent commentary on contemporary Egyptian socio-politics through a focus on the individual experience. His work also investigates issues related to the relationship between form and representation in the context of the exhibition and public spaces.

Yousri’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in New York, Centre Pompidou and l’Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, Sharjah Art Foundation, Mathaf: the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich, and IVAM (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern) in Valencia. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Arts Grant in 2006 and an AFAC grant in 2012 and has partaken in several artist-in-residence fellowships by institutions, including RAIR Philly 2022, ProHelvetia Switzerland, 2020; Vermont Studio Center, 2013 & 2018; Kultur Kontakt Austria, 2017; Arte East in New York, 2016; Sharjah Art Foundation, 2016; Kansas State University, 2011; and Kala Art Institute in California, 2010.

Yousri received his MFA in painting, drawing, and sculpture from Tyler School of Art – Temple University in Philadelphia in 2009 and his BFA in painting from the School of Fine Arts – Helwan University in Cairo in 2003. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Arts Grant in 2006, an AFAC (Arab Fund for Arts and Culture) grant in 2012 & 2020, an Art Jameel Research & Practice grant in 2020 and an al-Mawred (Culture Resource) grant in 2020. Additionally, he was awarded several artist-in-residence fellowships by various institutions: RAIR Philly USA, 2022; ProHelvetia Switzerland, 2020; Vermont Studio Center in USA, 2013 & 2018; Kultur Kontakt Austria, 2017; Arte East in New York USA, 2016; Sharjah Art Foundation in the UAE, 2016; Kansas State University in USA, 2011; and Kala Art Institute in California USA, 2010.

Yousri was a guest lecturer in many universities and institutions across the world; among which Sarah Lawrence College in New York; the University of Nebraska in Lincoln; Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon; the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee; Foundation Center for Contemporary Art in Kyiv Ukraine; Mathaf: the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar, among others.

Presenting ARD Lab II projects