• Meriem Bennani: Ghariba/Stranger (installation view at Art Dubai), 2017; Photo: the artist and SIGNAL

Meriem Bennani

Join artist Meriem Bennani for a discussion of her recent eight-channel installation Party on the CAPS (2019). Set in a speculative future in which migrants travel by teleportation, Party on the CAPS is an account of life in a refugee camp, fusing tropes of documentary, animation, reality TV, and science fiction to explore themes of displacement, the virtual, and globalization. The artist will discuss the origins of the work and the process of creation, from research and animation to shooting, editing, and installation.

Bennani was born in 1988, in Rabat, Morocco. She lives and works in New York. Her work, which she regularly publishes on social-media outlets such as Instagram and Snapchat, applies unexpected humor and an absurdist sensibility to typically sensitive or taboo subjects, such as Muslim women wearing the hijab.

Participants and topics are subject to change; visit Berkeley Arts + Design (artsdesign.berkeley.edu) for the most up-to-date series information.