Margarita Kuchma was a video and music artist. She joined the program from St. Petersburg, Russia. Margarita’s research interests included sound and video in advocacy, criminal justice reform, and youth empowerment. She is the songwriter and performer on the EP titled What Did You Say.
Hattie Wilder Karlstrom is a researcher and an activist. She joined the program from Amherst, Massachusetts by way of Annandale-on-Hudson. Hattie’s research interests centered on borders and the people they affect. Hattie was a 2020 participant in the Border Pedagogy Working Group and the recipient of a Watson Fellowship. Her thesis project is titled “We’re with the Church”: Religion and Humanitarian Aid along the U.S.-Mexico Border.” It took the form of a written academic thesis, intertwining academic and creative nonfiction writing.
Garrett Sager (a.k.a. Melissabeth) is a multidisciplinary artist with roots in theater and cabaret. He joined the program from the Boston area by way of the Hudson Valley. Garrett’s research interests included pop culture and identity, queer time, and the creation of new genders via performance. His thesis project is titled “Breaking the Seal.” It took the form of an interactive performance.
Carol Montealegre is an artist working in performance, installation, and video. She joined the program from Bogota, Colombia. Carol’s research interests included experimental film and performance art as mediums for human emancipation. She is the Artistic Director at Liminal Art Collective. Her thesis project is titled “Howls in The Mountains.” It took the form of a documentary film.
Iris Luo is a design researcher, storyteller, and educator. She joined the program from Shanghai, China. Iris’s research interests centered on pluriversal design, cultural ecology, community development, and indigenous epistemology. Her thesis project is titled “Weaving the Threads: Labor Protection of Maya Weavers in Guatemala.” It took the form of a written academic thesis.
Isabella Indolfi is an independent curator living between New York City and Maranola (Italy), and working between Western Europe, Russia, Armenia, and the United States of America. Her curatorial research is focused on public art, site-specific, and community-based practices. Since 2009, she has been collaborating with artists, institutions, festivals, museums and universities. Currently she is an independent researcher for Opere Vive, art director at SEMINARIA Biennial Festival of Environmental Art, and co-curator for Cyland Media Art Lab. Her thesis project is titled “Leave the Community Alone: The Ethics of Curating Contemporary Art in Villages.” It took the form of a a lecture performance.
Adam HajYahia is an independent writer and curator. Adam’s research interests revolve around the violence of racial-capitalism and colonialism and their intersection with the libidinal and the sexual. His thesis project is titled “Carnal Politics: Sex, Desire, and Anti-Colonial Deviance in Mandate Palestine.” It took the form of a hybrid output combining a written essay and a speculative archival exhibition that merges photography, text, and sound.
Nour Annan is a writer, photographer, and inter-disciplinary artist. She joined the program from Lebanon. Nour’s research interests included collective cultural memory and contemporary revolutionary politics. She is a former editor at Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal. Her thesis project is titled “The Golden Age Is Out of Joint: Photography, Catastrophe, and the Politics of Nostalgia in Lebanon.” It took the form of a hybrid output combining an article-length essay and a lecture performance.
Tâm Liêu Âm is an artist.
Majd Al-Rafie is a graphic designer, illustrator, and activist. She joined the program from Amman, Jordan. Majd’s research interests included Arab queer politics, Palestinian liberation, and art in activism. Her thesis project is titled “Tassako’: The Politics of Street Art Culture in Amman.” It took the form of a written academic thesis.
Ali Hussein Al-Adawy is a critic, curator, and researcher. He joined the program from Alexandria, Egypt. Ali’s research interests centered around representations of labor in film and art, the shifting dynamics of art spaces in times of permanent catastrophe, and the relationship between the circulation of images, human rights, and financialization. His thesis project is titled “Purity Is A Matter of An Effective Sewage System: Human Rights and Contemporary Art from Institution to Infrastructure.” It took the form of a written academic thesis.