WD40 - 04: Museums in Palestine w/ Ali T As’ad
Staffpick

Airdate: 11.07.2025
In 2011, a Picasso was transported from the Van Abbemuseum and exhibited in Ramallah, Palestine — why was this such a special event? In this episode of WD40, Cecile speaks with researcher, architect, and editor Ali T As’ad about exhibition-making in Palestine. Together, they discuss how museum practices can expose and influence (political) infrastructures, and reflect on what this could mean in light of today’s political events.
Ali T As’ad is a multidisciplinary researcher who works toward understanding these systems and cultures as they pertain to Palestine. He is working towards a PhD that focuses on exhibition-making and museum practices in Palestine. As part of this work, he has collaborated with the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis at UvA, the Curatorial Research Collective at TU Eindhoven, Design Academy Eindhoven, the Sandberg Instituut, and the Piet Zwart Institute. Ali is also Editor-in-Chief of MAKAN: Journal of Culture and Space, a print publication engaging with critical writing and scholarship from the SWANA region and Africa. Across exhibitions, conferences, and teaching, his practice frames architecture as culture beyond the built form, and curating as a method of infrastructural negotiation.
Ali T As’ad is a multidisciplinary researcher who works toward understanding these systems and cultures as they pertain to Palestine. He is working towards a PhD that focuses on exhibition-making and museum practices in Palestine. As part of this work, he has collaborated with the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis at UvA, the Curatorial Research Collective at TU Eindhoven, Design Academy Eindhoven, the Sandberg Instituut, and the Piet Zwart Institute. Ali is also Editor-in-Chief of MAKAN: Journal of Culture and Space, a print publication engaging with critical writing and scholarship from the SWANA region and Africa. Across exhibitions, conferences, and teaching, his practice frames architecture as culture beyond the built form, and curating as a method of infrastructural negotiation.